Divergent Path: Broken Bond
by swordcane
Summary: A reversal created by chance timing. Another chain of events is set in motion following the return of Tsunade and leads to a different retrieval mission.
1. Chapter 1

The pain was excruciating. Not from the beating, though that was bad enough. His body felt like he had just gone under the trampling feet of a raging mob. Nor was it from the lack of oxygen; his opponent and (apparently former) friend's grip on his front collar was interfering terribly with the consumption of air. No, it was that chakra- that disgusting life force that was wafting off him in swirling patterns.

_Almost sentient…_

That, and the twisted look in his enemy's eyes. And the horrible smile on his face. Like there was something wonderful in this moment. Something to prove.

_Something to gain._

He was elevated by the throat, feet no longer able to touch the water he had been standing on (_and drowning in_) just a few moments before. There seemed to be no end to his opponent's ability. His blows had seemed ineffective from the very beginning. His attacks had been meritless. Even his most potent jutsu had only been countered by an apparently equal one. And then his opponent had really let loose, leaving him in this precarious position.

_I don't know what's happening. We were friends once weren't we? _

The right hand held him aloft like a prize held high to the world- the victor sporting his trophy. The left was charged with incredible power, chakra becoming a physical weapon- a tool of assassination.

_What have I been doing? How are we friends now?!_

The victim would have cried then from grief if the terror wasn't overwhelming him.

_I don't want to die_

The fist full of hate and fury arched back. The animal like grin expanded. The stone statues of two former friends stared blankly at each other across the gulf of a waterfall.

_If this is it, this whole time-_

Deep within, through the pain and despair, he felt the release of a far darker power, one that had been caged, but was breaking free now in a time of dire emergency. It was spreading over his body, consuming him. It wasn't going to be enough.

_Naruto, I've been such a fool._

The fist arched in, aiming to shatter his rib cage, puncture his heart.

"YOU'RE TOO LATE SASUKE!!"


	2. Chapter 2

Three days before

"It wasn't your fault." The statement was the first sign that the figure on the park bench had even noticed the solitary child walk by him on the road. It was late, near midnight.

The little boy, only a couple months into his thirteenth year didn't turn around. He kept his small hands on the straps of his backpack, his eyes cast down at the cobblestones; shadows cast by the moon hid his eyes in darkness. "Who's fault was it than sensei!?"

The growl of a response was partly angry. However it sounded mostly tormented, like he was on the verge of tears brought about by agony in the heart.

Iruka stood up from the bench, waiting for this moment. _There's just one way out of Konoha, he'd have to take this road._

"It wasn't yours."

"THAN WHO SENSEI?!" Here the boy spun around. And he was crying. A horrible amount of tears were raging down his cheeks and it seemed as if the flood would never stop. Iruka took a step forward, but the next outburst stopped him in shock- "Was it the Fox?!"

Iruka didn't know what to say. The thought hadn't even occurred to him. The child in orange demanded an answer to his question, "WAS IT THE FOX?!"

Iruka was too stunned. Instead he only uttered the name of his favorite student, "Naruto,"

"Isn't that who I am! That's what everyone keeps saying! And it makes sense! I didn't think that I could do something like that, but then I did it and thenthenthen it happened and he'sjustlookingatmeand-oh,oho-I" his face seemed to cave in then, and Uzumaki balled.

Now Iruka saw it all. Naruto wasn't the fool most took him for. He could hear what the voices were saying in the streets and shops just as clearly as the rest of the village. The speculation was back. All his heroics of the past weeks, the short war, his help to find the new hokage, all of that was being obscured. The tragedy had followed too quickly on the heels of his victories. The wounds of twelve years ago were still too easily remembered. And the horrible event fit perfectly into the black story of the Nine Tails.

"Maybe I am the Fox, sensei. At least than I could explain it. At least it would make sense." _At least then it's not my fault._ The child's blue eyes looked up then, still obscured with tears. He wanted an answer, his eyes pleaded for a reason. Iruka felt his own tears well up. This nightmare was going to tear the child apart if an answer wasn't provided. He took several steps toward the child he had begun to think of as a part of his family. "Naruto, who do you think you are?" The tone was quite, sad, but kind. As he began to kneel down to get at eye level, Iruka's chest exploded.

Naruto Uzumaki was a short child. As such he couldn't see the stunned look in his teacher's eyes, the sheer and total incomprehension at his own demise. All the child saw was a sudden shower of red as a series of golden kunai tore raggedy holes through the back of the chunnin out his front. The knees had already been bending, it seemed almost intentional that Iruka should continue to crumple downward, falling almost gently at the feet of his student. Face down, the forehead protector making a slight clink as it hit the concrete. The blood began to pool around the body.

Naruto Uzumaki was falling as well. Somewhere his psyche was tumbling into a dark abyss he had only been once before. Into a dungeon where the monster waited. A part of him saw the four perpetrators. One had six arms. That really didn't register. The four were all smiling. That registered. "What's the matter little Fox?" sneered the pale one with the deformity on his back.

"I don't think he's figured out what's happened yet. He really is as stupid as everyone's said." This from the fat one.

The six armed one only snickered, moonlight reflecting of the sound-nin forehead protector. In his hands he still held more golden kunai.

"He's not even worth our time. Explain to me again how this helps?" The red haired female seemed nonplussed, smirk notwithstanding.

"Oooooooooh," the orphan fell to his knees, had unclenching from his backpack. He remembered the bridge at the Land of Waves. How someone (he wouldn't use _his _name) had only seemed to have been dead at the time. He remembered too how Iruka had once taken a Fuuma shuriken to his spine and recovered fully. _He's not dead. He's not dead. Hes notdead. _"!!"

Sakon looked at Tayuya. "I think it's pretty self-explanatory. Run!" the four sprang both left and right as the animal charged straight down the center of the path, trying to get its claws into them. Everywhere in Konoha lights were being switched on. Guards, already on edge due to the recent conflict, shot to attention. Four intruders speed out the main gate of Konoha with a demon on their trail, and Sasuke Uchiha, one of the last of his clan, currently being held under house arrest on the premises of his jonin instructor, sat bolt upright on the couch where he had been trying in vain for the last five hours to fall asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

"WHAT?!" Even without the use of chakra, the rage of the Sannin was enough to shut down the minds of mid level ninja, and for a moment Kotetsu couldn't even remember what he'd just told the beautiful kunoichi. _Hell hath no fury like a woman…_ was the first cogent thought in his mind as it tried to reassemble itself. His partner was a little quicker on his recovery. "It appears that the village was infiltrated and Iruka was-"

"I heard you the first time!" snapped the Hokage, gaze slamming into the hard wood desk, busily searching the rosters for who she had left. This was not good. _What's he up to? _

"There's already rumors it was the Nine-" Kotetsu stopped dead in his tracks. The glare from the woman was more lethal than her tone and further words along even the _possibility_ of such an occurrence would obviously lead to his homicide. The chuunin shut his mouth and firmly resolved not to open it ever again. Tsunade's head snapped back down to the roster. She found after a second that she still couldn't focus enough to actually make sense of the names. The rage was boiling in her stomach and she released it quickly with a string of curses before it could explode into physical violence. Tsunade hissed vitriol out her ruby lips like she was spitting acid.

_Why?!_ Her mind screamed silently. _Why target Naruto?! His target is the Uchiha lineage, why Naruto!? Is this just petty revenge?!_ The act did fit hissadistic profile to be sure. He knew her past perfectly, and it was not beyond him to waste resources for the simple purpose of deriving pleasure from the sufferings of others. Never-the-less, Tsunade discarded this reason quickly; _That's not likely to be what happened at all- he's not even here to enjoy it._ She bit her lip in frustration; the names still weren't making sense on the scroll. She again let her mind jump back to the puzzle. _They infiltrated. They must have learned what happened. Are they calculating…?_

She realized she didn't even need the roster. Her vision again shot up and speared her two runners. "Get me Hatake immediately. And make sure he brings his charge along with him." Her voice was deadly calm.

Kakashi gazed at the golden kunai on the desk. It still had some flecks of blood on it from the fallen instructor. His gaze slowly turned up to toward his superior. Seated in her chair the chestnut eyes seemed to study him with next to no interest. There was none of Kakashi's ordinary lackadaisical questioning or comments. Strictly business this black night. "The same chakra infused web that was used to suppress the ANBU pursuit squad?"

"Just more concentrated." The Sannin's response was like ice. _She's angry._ Kakashi didn't know what else to say. So he said the obvious. "He went after them then, and the Nine Tail's chakra is leaking through the seal."

"It would appear so." Kakashi briefly wondered if he was going to be able to get out of this room intact. She still hadn't issued him the obvious orders. _Should I just leave?_

"I didn't think he'd have any interest in Naruto-" "He doesn't." Now the kunoichi stood up and took the murder weapon from the desk. She turned away, facing out the offices windows, staring out over the city on edge. Lights were only now starting to be turned off again. Few knew exactly what had happened yet. _Tomorrow morning though…_

"Kakashi, he's using him as bait." The truth was obvious, but saying it helped make the problem seem solvable. "They must have been observing all day. They figured out who he was, or they already knew. Then they provoked him, got him outside the village. They're gambling that we won't let him go because of what he is…"

"And they figure we'll either lessen our guard further, or…"

"Or Sasuke will go after him as well."

Silence again in the room. Then, "Kakashi, they know I'll be sending you out. If that's the case than…"

"Then I shouldn't be the only one to leave."

"Sasuke stood silently in the darkened hallway. His back leaned against the wall next to the closed doors of the Hokage's office. He wished the meeting would go on forever. He wished he could just stand here, in the dark forever, never have to see another person, never have to see the light of day, nor deal with another soul ever again. The conversation was muffled, but he had caught snatches of it. Naruto's name. His. Iruka was somehow involved as well. _Are they going to send me back to the academy?_ The thought was ludicrous of course. They'd more likely strip him of the status of shinobi. But he hadn't been thinking clearly for hours now. His limited world had toppled unexpectedly, and not of his own accord. _How could this have happened?_

He had started to replay the event again, but he quickly halted himself. His heart rate was increasing rapidly and he began to hyperventilate. His emotions suddenly reversed and he now found he really did not want to be alone in the very empty, scary dark hallway.

_Mom and Dad, blood - Big brother-_

Sasuke burst into the Hokage's office, desperate to get away from the nightmare in the dark. Then he met they're gazes. He might have been better off in the murder-filled hallway. Sasuke managed to steady his breathing. Barely. The Hokage stared at him with a gaze part pity, part anger. Kakashi just seemed sad. _What's happened now?_

"Sasuke Uchiha, you are hereby charged with the retrieval of Naruto Uzumaki."

****

Tayuya hated this mission. _Why do I have to be the one who get's chased? And why is it I have to be partnered with this fat asshole!? _Jirobo was running full out, but she saw the sweat beading on his pudgy throat. She could hear his ragged breaths. "Tayuya, lets activate the curse seal, I don't know how he's-,"

"If you're tired fatso you should have thought about losing some weight before the mission! But if you need the curse seal don't let me stop you!"

She didn't notice the angry look he shot her, but she felt his blood lust rising. _Just try it on a mission you useless piece of livestock. Give me a reason._

She began to shoot another comment at him, hoping to provoke him further, "He's still miles behind-"

"AARRRARAH!!!"

The impact of the orange comet caught them both from behind, sent them skidding off the tree branches, crashed them into the soft earth below. Jirobo had already been triggering his curse seal, his recovery rolled him into a sumo style stance. Tayuya's response was a second behind; she sprang to her feet, just in time to be flattened by a blow to the stomach from the fury filled jinchuriki. Tayuya felt something salty and hot rise up on her tongue, knew it to be her own blood. She spat it at her attacker's inhuman eyes. _Piece of shit!! _She couldn't shake the rage as the thirteen year old maniac threw her flat. His finger nails were like razors, slicing at her cheeks, aiming for her eyes- she tried to get her arms up between them-realized she wasn't going to be fast enough-

Jirobo's tackle lacked the finesse of most taijutsu, but it achieved its end- throwing the demon-charged, child-on-overdrive off his team member. Tayuya rolled right as the two combatants flew left in a flurry of biting, punching and cursing. The black hearted kunoichi spun to her feet, feeling the hot lines crisscross out and over her neck, up her chin and down her back and chest. Each right angle sent a jarring pulse-beat of power through her skin. _Now the odds are a little more even._

Jirobo was losing. The jinchuriki-thing was surging with strength, beating and kicking like it was possessed. One moment he'd be able to get his hand on the boy's throat, the next the boy would be slicing and biting the offending appendage, trying to shred it like a cat caught by its scratching post. "Tayuya-Help!!"

She couldn't help but snicker, and paused just a second longer to allow a bit more of punishment get dished out to her partner; the demon-child dropped a vicious arc-down punch into the forehead of the fat slob as the pain forced him to let go with his torn arm. Her teammate howled again, "Tayuya-DO SOMETHING!"

"Hmph," Her attack was flawless, few eyes would have been able to track the path she traveled, crossing the five meter gap in an instant and dealing a sharp, spinning right hook into the berserker's temple. The momentum of the blow transferred, lifted the boy and spun him half a dozen meters across the dirt and grass. Limbs twisted animatedly as the child rolled over and set himself on all fours. The sharp red eyes blazed at the two, as if for the first time seeing them. The cheeks pulled back, curling the black, whisker birthmarks into an exaggerated and ugly frown. _It's like I didn't even hit him._

"_Where's the other two?!"_ the boy snarled. Tayuya returned the hate filled stare with one of her own.

"You really are stupid, they were never with us you moron!" The doppelganger transformation technique had been canceled out by his first attack, the impact jarring the tenuous illusions of Sakon and Kidomaru back into whisps of air and water vapor. _This guy didn't even notice them disappear. He must really be pissed off._

"_Where are they!?"_

Jirobo spoke before Tayuya had a chance to retort, clutching the bloody red mess that was his right arm. "My arm, you nearly skinned my arm you runt!"

"_I'm gonna kill you."_

Then the boy was springing forward again. "Jirobo," Tayuya's tone was cautionary,

"I know."

As the furious boy leapt to close the three meter gap between them, Jirobo's bloody hands spun seals.

"Earth style, Clay prison!"

The fist that was aimed to flatten the fat kid's face never connected. A wall of stone seemed to spring up, imposing itself between the attack and the offending visage. Then the wall was over him, surrounding and encompassing Naruto Uzumaki in a sealed cave of earth. His fist had sent cracks spidering through the walls of his cage, but to his amazement, they were rapidly sealing by themselves. In a few moments he faced an unbroken wall, no sign remained that his fist had even impacted.

He looked up, left, and right in desperation. No obvious way out. For the first time in hours he finally felt the rage start to dry up, fading ever so slightly. Something else was fading as well. _Hey… _The rage shot back in an instant.

"You!!"

Sla_!_mcra_ck!_!S_ma!lc_ras!_h!!_

Naruto threw one crazed punch after another into the barrier in front of him. Each one seemed weaker than the first. Then he heard the snobbish laughter. The laugh was coming from right in front, just behind the layer of earth and stone. "Struggle all you want, you little animal." The voice sounded low and far away. Naruto paused momentarily, letting his split knuckles rest by his side.

"Its over for you runt. No one gets out of this. You're about to pay for what you did to my arm! Just quite down while I drain you."

Naruto started beating the walls of his prison again, but somehow they seemed stronger than before, as if the longer they remained, the more they were becoming reinforced.

"I'll kill you!! Do you hear me!! _IM GONNA KILL YOU!_" The only response the Leaf gennin got to that was more laughter.

****

Shikamaru Nara did not want to be a chuunin. Asuma had said he was proud. Somehow that didn't help. His parents hadn't really said anything at all. That was fine. _Didn't mean they weren't_, the tactician reflected, _just means they know you too well._ It meant they knew why he didn't want the job. _Troublesome._

Shikamaru looked at the crew he'd been assigned to this morning. An impartial observer might have chosen several adjectives to describe them. Talented. Qualified. Lethal. His gaze lingered on Uchihia for just a moment longer. _Definitely lethal. _Uchiha's gaze stayed on the ground. _Troublesome._ Nara heaved a sigh and mentally reviewed his team and the mission.

_Its me and… him. Thank God I'm not in charge._

The lazy savant turned his worried gaze onto the grey-haired jounin who stood silently in front of them staring down the one road out the main gate of Konoha. The path was well beat, heavily traveled at all times of the year; "hidden village," was really something of a misnomer for a nation's vital economic and military hub that doubled as a landmark. To be certain, the enemies of the Fire Nation seemed to have no trouble in finding the place.

The sun was only now starting to rise. They were setting out early. The additional disturbance of a knock on the door of the Nara household in the middle of the night had not been completely jarring; the roar of some crazed animal had already disturbed the family from the relative silence of sleep. Of course, the personal chuunin of the Hokage arriving to escort the newly minted journeyman to the office of his supreme commander had been quite unexpected. His mother had tried to put on a relatively pleased face but she couldn't quite hide the concern. Shikamaru wished she could have tried harder. And now this.

_Why couldn't it just be the two of them, what have I got to do with this? Just what exactly is going on? _

Shikamaru's head swam. Of course he had known about the incident. There really was no hiding it now. His entire class knew. He hadn't even been able to speak to Ino. Choji had actually stopped eating between meals and the two friends hadn't exactly done much talking except to exchange a handful of sentiments. _Good God, I wonder how Lee's taking this. Right before his surgery…_

Shikamaru stopped his sympathy train before it left the station. He had his own issues to worry about now.

"Shikamaru,"-this from Kakashi, who didn't turn around to address him- "what is your assessment of the enemies capabilities?"

Shikamaru jammed his hands in his pants pockets, the motion chaffed his forearms against the new vest and he mentally cursed himself for not trying harder to somehow show less initiative.

"I didn't bother reading the reports, but it's likely a skilled small team, specifically trained to get in past our detection system. They're probably quite formidable and intelligent, but beyond that…" the chuunin shrugged his shoulders, not that the jonin could see the motion.

"And why do you think they killed Iruka?"

"They probably wanted to get Naruto outside the village."

"To what end?"

"Beats me. He's got a lot of energy and all but-"

Again Nara's shoulder's finished the thought.

Inside Shikamaru's mind was racing. _Sasuke hasn't said a damn thing! Why on earth am I getting dragged into this?! Oh man, how am I suppose to know what were going up against-shouldn't you have a better idea? You're the elite fighter here!! What actually happened this morning?!_

"All right, here's how we're going to handle this…" the masked man slowly turned about and Shikamaru felt his heart sink. _Oh man, can't pretend any more. I'm really in the middle of this mess now. What a-_


	4. Chapter 4

Kakashi's pace was punishing. They were behind, and every second gave the enemy more time to prepare. Pakkun's nose had found five distinct scents, one Naruto's, the others vulgar and corrupt. Kakashi's own olfactory capabilities were starting to detect the unfamiliar and hostile whisps of something that just seemed… _Unclean._ And then there was Naruto's scent. _Why does it feel like I'm smelling chakra itself?_ Naruto was burning his considerable reserve like an engine on overload. The trail couldn't be more obvious. _It's a goddamn trap and we're speeding into it._

The copy-nin's hand shot up while his lips let out a high frequency whistle inaudible to the human ear. Pakkun braked and began to circle back. Kakashi flung himself off the tree branch toward the ground. His two charges landed a short distance behind him, huffing and puffing, lungs struggling to gather desperately needed oxygen. Kakashi didn't really care for what he was about to do, he very well could be endangering Naruto's life. _But we can't do him much good if were dead…_ "All right you two, we make camp here, Pakkun, you scout ahead, see if there's anyone hanging about."

"Yo," the nin-dog grunted as he bound away into the brush. Shikamaru looked confused and frustrated. "We're going to break? That doesn't make much sense."

Kakashi was grateful that the Hokage had assigned the Nara to the mission. Not only would his technique provide standoff against the enemy (and perhaps lasso Naruto if he bolted), but his intellect was as valuable as any jutsu_._ If mental capabilities were blades, Shikamaru would wield a razor. _If he felt like it. _Kakashi paused a moment to consider Sasuke's condition. The orphan was breathing heavy, slightly bent double, trying to find his wind. _He isn't regulating his breathing properly…_

"No Shikamaru, we can't afford to assume that this is as obvious as it looks."

"That's what I was afraid of."

Sasuke had finally stood up straight, breathing finally becoming steady.

"It's likely they're setting an ambush or trap-."

"You don't think they're after Naruto?"

Kakashi took another moment of silence, appraising the chunin. _Just how much should I tell him?_

Shikamaru surprisingly took the initiative and began answering his own questions.

"There are really two possibilities I suppose. One: They want Naruto and don't want trouble on their heels. Two: they are actually aiming to destroy any follow on element. The last one is the most worrisome possibility. That implies a dedicated ambush specific to the destruction of, well, us. Which means it's us they're after, and that doesn't particularly make much sense." Here the chunnin paused glancing at Sasuke, as if expecting him to offer some bit to the puzzle. The Uchiha seemed not to be paying attention, staring at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Shikamaru continued, "If they were trying to specifically weaken the defenses of the village there are other less complicated ways to lessen the guard. If they were good enough to actually break in, they could have started picking off sentries. They didn't, which means that their interest isn't Konoha itself. A lack of traps up until now also implies that they want to draw a pursuit squad further out, away from help, not slow them down so they can get away. And then us stopping. We are trying to frustrate some kind of timeline aren't we?"

_He really can see beneath the underneath. _Kakashi nodded, acknowledging the frighteningly accurate assessment.

"Whoever murdered Iruka wasn't interested in Naruto specifically, that seems safe to assume."

"So they're interested in us _specifically._"

Shikamaru stressed the last word and darted his eyes from Kakashi to Sasuke briefly, signaling just where the chunin thought the interest lay. Sasuke's eyes and face remained blank, he continued staring down. It was the same look he had had when he had initially come out of the Tsukonami several days before, and Kakashi knew he would have to do something about it soon or he really would be jeopardizing the mission.

Yet Kakashi hesitated. _Shikamaru can see it. You've got to cover somehow. _So, Kakashi gave orders.

"Shikamaru, we'll hold here for one hour. The scents seem to have split, Naruto's still getting further away with two others, but two have halted. They're a ways ahead yet but relatively close. Prep a trip flare about four hundred meters in front and set up a concealed position nearby." No one shows in an hour we move out."

The thirteen-year-old nodded and moved, his chakra enhanced run threw his arms behind him as the legs quadrupled output.

Kakashi turned toward his emotionless charge. Now was the chance to talk. Kakashi hadn't said much to him since the incident; in truth he hadn't known what to say. They now had the chance to really confront the truly horrible burden they both carried. But as Kakashi looked at the child dressed in blue, he realized he just couldn't do it. _Not yet. I'm not ready yet._

"Gather some firewood."

The brother had watched the messenger bird fly overhead fly south past the border, heading toward the village. Messenger birds were easy to pick out, only fowl with a purpose or a death wish (_which could be considered the same as the first)_ headed straight into a desert going full out. _Which usually meant only more trouble._ Kankuro could remember noticing messenger birds from the age of five, right after which his personal tutors had suddenly gone missing, along with about half of his father's staff. _Nothing but trouble._

Kankuro propped his head up. _If Garra's noticed he sure is good at hiding it._ The child sat alone on a rock outcropping staring into the forest along the flowing streams that demarcated the border between the Land of Rivers and Wind. He glanced right, noted his sister had seen it to, though it wouldn't have been obvious from the way she seemed to be staring back into the desert toward home. Temari was standing, leaning against her fan which she had slammed, upright into the earth. The shadow it cast acted as a sundial, which bothered Kankoru to no end. When wasting time (which in Kankuro's opinion was what they were doing), he hated to be reminded that it was occurring. It wasn't that he was against wasting time (quite the opposite); it was the reminder itself. It seemed to the puppeteer a bit too much like a scolding teacher. '_Now listen here young man,'_ the shadow said, '_do you realize that you could be making better use of your time?'_ _Come to think of it, maybe losing those tutors wasn't such a bad thing._

Kankuro snickered. "What's funny?" asked his sister in a bored tone.

"Nothing really. Just remembering how nice peace and quiet can be."

"Hmph," came his sister's comfortable reply, lips sliding up in a smile, eyes sliding closed knowingly.

"You've noticed the bird then too?" The gravelly voice that seemed to whisper out of his younger brother used to fill Kankoru with unease. There wasn't a time Kankoru could remember that its haunting quality didn't activate some basic survival instinct in him. Since the war however, that menace had somehow been muted. In fact, there was a quality of disturbing innocence to it, as if Gaara had suddenly begun to suffer from amnesia and was trying to find out who he was.

"Yeah, we noticed," this from Temari who still kept her eyes closed and smile perched. _She's taking more quickly to this version of Gaara than I am,_ Kankoru suddenly realized. He was still trying to feel Gaara out, not sure what he could get away with, or how loose he could act with him. Kankoru didn't want to set his brother off; it sometimes felt like he was trying to keep from waking from a dream.

Temari didn't have that problem. Gaara was asking questions and she answered. It was almost like a professional relationship that one would start with a business colleague. She was going to let Gaara develop, while Kankoru didn't feel comfortable unless he had the whole thing figured out immediately.

Gaara uncrossed his legs, stood up and turned slowly toward them, the sand gourd shifted slightly on his shoulders. "Do you think it's from the Leaf?"

Kankoru quirked an eyebrow, his brother had never really cared about anything outside of his immediate surroundings before. Temari answered again before the older boy could ask why he cared.

"Probably," here she paused, pulled the fan out the ground she had planted it in, and turned to face the baby of the family.

"It looked like a breed from the fire country, some kind of hawk, and it obviously passed over their territory."

"I see," said Gaara. Kankoru's eyebrow quirked a little higher. Gaara's tone seemed to suggest that he had learned everything he wanted to know, but he was still looking at them expectantly.

_He doesn't know how to carry on a conversation does he?_ The realization both startled and amused the violent teen. _Finally, something to contribute._ "You're thinking it could have something to do with us right?" Kankoru jumped in, much to the annoyance of his sister who shot him a glance. Kankoru ignored her.

"It is possible that it will involve us at some point. We are closest to the border…"

"Hmph, yeah, thanks again for that,"

"Kankuro!"

Kankuro played off the scolding from his sister like he hadn't heard it, leaning back toward the ground nonchalantly like he was going to rest again; inside his blood ran like ice. For a moment he had forgotten who he was talking to- Gaara had been known to kill on just whims- to seemingly insult him-

Gaara's tone became questioning, "You're unhappy?"

Kankuro heaved a sigh and sat up, _To hell with it, might as well plunge in, tiptoeing around him is too much of a pain._

"Look, we're out here for one reason: the council's terrified that someone might make a move against Wind since we lost, and they want their strongest asset waiting for them. That means us three have to go on an extended camping trip together," _And they want you outside the village in case you go berserk like you did in the Leaf village_ was better left unsaid. This was obviously what Temari had been afraid he might blather off, and he felt a moment of relief from her.

"What about the fact that they don't want me present in the village?" Gaara's siblings started. Gaara's face remained unchanged, neither hostile nor amused.

Temari stepped in, "Look Gaara, , it actually does make good strategic sense to have us outside the village right now. It tell others that Sand isn't so worried that they're keeping us close for protection,"

"That is true. Do you think the recent Leaf activity is a similar gesture?" Temari's face went from concerned to thoughtful. "Not too many people have picked up on that Gaara."

For a brief instant there was a flicker of warmth in the boy's eyes- a reaction of gratitude for the praise. Then the face was unreadable again.

"So why would the Leaf be sending us a request?"

"Who says it's a request?"

Kankuro's sense of worry had subsided the second he had seen the glint of emotion in Gaara. He posed the question in his normal nonchalant, borderline antagonistic tone, _Don't want to behave different around him, might make him clam up._

"What else would it be? Negotiations of our new treaty are now complete."

"But requesting what Gaara? It's not like they have a need for emergency supplies, or need us to complete missions."

Temari's response implied she already had a decent idea of the answer, a kind of smirk hidden in the inflection that said she enjoyed the fact that her little brother was showing such thoughtfulness. A little while before she had been convinced that his mind was one track; completely dedicated to self preservation. The conversation was a further proof that her brother really was emerging after years of arrested development.

"It's not like it matters Tem. Any request will be a test of treaty obligation."

The snarky response from her other brother drew a sour expression from the sandy blond who was bothered both by the comment and the truth of the statement. They had lost the war, and now the Leaf very well could be rubbing it in. Kankuro wasn't stupid, he just never cared to let on, preferring to be a simple jerk to a sophisticated snob.

"I don't think so."

The gravely innocent voice piped up, drawing their eyes back to his.

"The Leaf never played such lowbrow politics before, even when they were being hired by the Feudal Lord. It would have been much easier and less dangerous to mock the village then, and they chose not to."

"So then what do you think is the reason Gaara?" Temari asked softly.

"Maybe, maybe they really do… Need us."

_Is that a note of hope?_ The thought skirted across Kankoru's mind and then was gone, dismissed before he could ponder it. Gaara, turned away then, apparently content with his last statement being the final contribution. He sat down cross legged again and went back to unflinchingly watching the border. Kankuro laid his head back onto the ground again, pushing one of his puppets idly with his foot. Temari had set her fan on the ground folded shut and sat down upon it, again facing back toward the village. Several hours passed before the next messenger bird flying out of the desert landed in their midst.

"Looks like the council sent you an answer little brother."

Kakashi stared at Sasuke. Sasuke stared at the fire. Occasionally he'd toss another handful of leaves into the flames, helping produce more smoke. The copy-nin broke his vigil, briefly gazing into the flames, watching the leaves crackle and snap, caught in fierce light and heat, halfway between cinders and ash. The sensei was seated, his back against the tree, one leg outstretched, the other bent upward with the right lanky arm resting on it, palm facing down. The boy sat cross legged. The smoke billowed up and away from them.

"What happened…" Kakashi couldn't tell if he had started a statement or a question. The boy did not look up. The young man pressed on, "what happened we can't change. What matters is what we do from here."

"I didn't want anyone to get hurt."

"That's the way it normally is."

"I just wanted.."

The boy stopped and Kakashi looked back at the fire. He remembered why he had taught Sasuke the jutsu to begin with. Why he had given him the tool in the first place.

"That doesn't matter."

"I-"

"Sasuke."

Kakashi spoke the name in a way that sounded resigned and desperate. "What happened occurred because of what you made your priority."

And now he had the orphan's attention. Onyx eyes slammed into his teacher. Inscrutable, but suddenly attentive.

"Have you paid any attention to what I was trying to teach you these past months? What led to your greatest success? You are only what you choose to be. An avenger? You might like to think he didn't leave you a choice, that probably makes it easier, but you're the one who has to decide how to act. The choice you made yesterday… All decisions have consequences. It's just a question of how soon you have to face those consequences. Yesterday's came immediately."

Muscle's were working and quivering in the Uchiha's neck and jaw. The eyes screamed for the lecture to stop. Kakashi pressed on.

"You had to prove that you were stronger. You saw recognition as identical to failure. You became overanxious. Sasuke, there are no shortcuts. When you try to take them people-."

Sasuke stopped staring. Instead he stood up, turned away, started walking in a random direction. Kakashi didn't move a muscle.

"Yesterday you started letting go of them. But you lost one of them because of that decision."

The boy didn't turn around. Kakashi played his last card.

"If anything good could come from it, it's that you realized just how important they were too you. If you had just walked away you might not have realized what it was you were destroying. Its true value."

Sasuke stopped walking away.

Shikamaru bounded into the camp. He looked first at his classmate, then at the teamleader. _Kakashi seems unconcerned._ The novice leader shrugged mentally and made his report. We've been sending up a clear signal to our location for the last hour. I think it's safe to say-"

"-they know where we are."

Shikamaru would have jumped if it hadn't required excess energy. His classmate had spoken for the first time since the mission had begun. He would have replied, but a gruff rumbling voice cut in,

"And I know where they are."

Pakkun had popped out of some flora, already starting to kick dirt on the fire, smothering the flames.

"They haven't moved toward us in the last hour, and the entire area smell like one of them. Safe to say their ambush is fixed in a fifty meter radius, twelve kilometers up. Still just the two of them. You ready to go Kakashi?"

Kakashi didn't reply, he just stared straight ahead.

Pakkun paused, "Kakashi? You ready, every second we wait is another Naruto gets further away."

Sasuke turned around, and for the first time since the start of the mission, Shikamaru thought he saw a trace of the kid he had started to respect- the one he detested because he worked so hard and did everything right.

"Yeah, we're ready to go."


	5. Chapter 5

The morning of Iruka's murder

Kakashi wasn't blind to the summons. It was his duty to report in that day to receive his next mission. Even though he had only just recently recovered from perhaps the most debilitating mental weapon in existence, the needs of the village screamed for his attention. The newly coroneted Fifth's plan of rigorous missions for all Leaf shinobi called for an incredible amount of self-sacrifice. _Even though it defies logic. _A seriously damaged village would not usually hire itself for very many missions. Instead, it should bring its shinobi closer to home, both to guard against any enemy forces trying to take advantage of its weakness and concentrate on its own rebuilding. Kakashi continued to stand stock still, a lanky silent fixture overwatching a monument. The birds paid him no mind.

That was how a logical hidden village _should _operate. And just as logically, the hidden village's competitors would make their moves, either by seizing some border territories of the injured village's host nation (which the village could not defend due to keeping its shinobi close) or by launching an all out attack on the already weakened village to lay it completely low. The hidden village, even if it survived another attack, would be even further weakened, making recovery even longer. Likewise, loss of territory would result in loss of prestige and reputation with the host nation, thus decreasing future funding and recruitment for missions. Foreign shinobi would be hired by the disillusioned country, and the Leaf Village would teeter on the brink of irrelevancy.

This was the logical pattern. Konoha had gone through it once as well, in the starting days of the Third World War. The same _logical_ remedy would not be applied twice. Instead, Leaf nin were now three times as active. Missions were being accepted as if they had just had doubled in military strength instead of suffering a loss of an eleventh of the fighting force. The other nations and their shinobi villages were likely questioning their own intelligence gathering methods, double checking spies loyalty, and, in general, wondering just how they could have so completely underestimated the strength of the Fire Nation's native forces.

They of course had not. The village was hurt. From a strategic standpoint there was in fact, no better time than now to seize territory (_attacking the village would be too presumptuous_). There had been Leaf casualties in the conflict with Sand and Sound, and responding to multiple land grabs from any of the other great lands was in fact out of the question; the Fire Nation was massive, and the force did not exist currently to quickly respond effectively to a dedicated invasion force.

_But our actions imply otherwise…_ The Legendary Three were truly an unpredictable bunch. This scheme of Tsunade's was risky, foolhardy, and straight out of an addict gambler's playbook for thrill. _But its genius._

Leaf Shinobi were being scattered not only throughout the Fire nation, but the continent as well. Taking every mission offered. Not just the important ones, but even the small and insignificant. The image of a powerful force was still being maintained; a force not only capable of fighting a war on its home turf, but then of going back to business as usual as if the war hadn't even occurred in the first place. _So long as no one calls our bluff, Konoha actually walks away with an even greater reputation- even though we don't deserve it._ And if the bluff was called, they'd be in even worse shape than if they had shown their hand early. _So far, so good. Just a year's time is all we need…_

And in order to buy that time, all of the Leaf needed to pull extra duty. Every mission was a bravado filled lie to both clients and killers. As such, if a complicated, dangerous, glory-filled mission could be pulled off with the dedication of but a single soldier, the more true the lie seemed. And that's where the jonin came into play. Missions that would normally be considered as requiring as many as two teams of experienced chunin with jonin leadership were being handed out to the single elite to accomplish. The chunin were needed elsewhere, doing other tasks that would tax them to their limits as well. Genin teams (albeit, the experienced types) were being issued A-rank missions and kicked out the door. 'Complete the mission, don't get killed, and hurry back for the next,' were the marching orders of the day. Two out of three of those orders would have been tricky enough by themselves. Kakashi wondered if the genin had the experience level high enough to know which would be the important two.

_Mission completion and survival aren't always synonymous. And in those cases, sometimes the mission won't be completed unless you're willing to realize what's truly important. Isn't that right Obito?_ Kakashi continued to stare at the monument that crystallized his dead friend's name in cold stone. He knew he should be leaving now. He'd already wasted enough time putting off the Hokage's summons. He still wanted to visit Team 7 this morning before heading out. Sasuke was nearly recovered himself, and the team would likely receive yet another A-rank mission shortly.

_All for the sake of their home. Just like us when we were younger. By ourselves in someone else's territory. Only just a little better off perhaps._ Kakashi knew an A-rank would be difficult, but they were _his_ students. They were trained well, and growing together as a team. And not just teamwork, but respect and friendship were developing as well. _The entire reason Sasuke was in the hospital was because he tried to protect Naruto from a monster he was all too familiar with. _He was sure he'd fine them all together this morning; Sakura still doted on the poor Uchhia boy like he was the only thing in the world that was important to her (_I hope Naruto doesn't notice, it might break his heart if he realizes he doesn't have a chance_), and Uzumaki couldn't leave either of them alone for any length of time.

To tell the truth, Sakura was starting to grow fond of Naruto as well. She knew now that there was more to her spiky blonde teammate than just pranks and his annoying tendency to dote on her (_I wonder if she sees the dichotomy?_). He had tried (and succeeded) to save her from a monster as well. Perhaps it shouldn't have taken so long for her to realize that there was real depth to him, but then, _better late than never_. Kakashi quickly shut off his own childhood memories of similar, yet tragically divergent ends: realizing relationships too late. He was being far more optimistic with this generation. _They're not going to make our mistakes Obito. Their future is so much brighter. I'm glad you can see them, those three._

His mind was starting to wander now, about what ifs, and if only. He was really going to be late now. But the kids weren't even aware he was coming to visit them. _They won't even realize I'm behind schedule this time._ Kakashi smiled at the thought.

Konoha Hospital-Rooftop

Two friends struggled to overpower each other. A flurry of punches, kicks, and the two were separate again. One's eyes blazed red with malice and genetic lineage, the other's icy blue, refused to back down. Still a third pair of eyes watched the struggling adolescents with tears waiting to spill. _What is happening?!_

Sasuke was skilled, fast, and he could read his teammate's attack like a book. The only issue was that his opponent would not remain simply one person. A more sadistic individual might take more pleasure from constantly cracking the same stupid nose over and over again in rapid suggestion, but it was just making Sasuke angrier. _Stupid fool! Back down already!_

_Goddamnit, recognize me!!_ Naruto himself was losing control. Just moments before he had been so happy, so confident. His friend was about to acknowledge just how much he had grown. But it had not played out according to his fantasy in the slightest. _He insulted me! After all I've shown?! Goddamnit!! Goddamn him!_ And now he was fighting on more than just adrenaline as well. Emotions were fueling his attacks too, control was slipping away and the spar was becoming a brawl. Naruto didn't want to just beat his friend, _I'm gonna hurt you._

_You goddamn loser!!_ Sasuke was airborne now. The sheer number of clones was becoming incredibly bothersome. _Stupid.. pathetic..imitations.._ Sasuke suspected he knew how the attack would complete itself, he had felt the sudden change of air pressure behind him as a clone had used a chakra burst to get airborne and above him. A twisting of his core muscles with a simultaneous raising of arms blocked the heel of his attacker from smashing in his face. And he formed hand signs. Sasuke Uchiha felt a sudden rush of superiority as he saw the shock in Uzumaki's eyes. Sasuke Uchiha was a genius.

_Tiger seal!!_ The brother of Itachi was already using the stolen momentum from the failed attack to rotate back toward the cluster of bodies below. The clone could only watch, furious and helpless as a blaze from his opponent's lips consumed his brethren on the roof. And then the jutsu released, letting the bonds of chakra break, and the clone joined its brothers in a plume of rising smoke.

The sharingan was an impressive ocular mutation, yet it lacked the penetrating power of its cousin. As such, Sasuke had to wait an extra second for the smoke of dissolved cannon fodder to clear before he could determine what was producing the strange 'werring' sound. Two identical enemy stared up, eyes ablaze. One held what appeared to be a sphere of whirling chakra. Shock mixed with rage. _I'll show you!! _Lifeforce changed to concentrated electrical current, and the 13 year old orphan began descending like a fallen angel.

Their screams (yelling was no longer an appropriate description) were rage mixed with frustration. The girl however was trapped in her own anguish and could not distinguish this subtlety in the sound. She hated this. She hated what she was witnessing. She felt like she was losing them both. She had had a family before them, but that seemed not to matter. They were important. It was important that things not change. And it seemed as if suddenly things were about to be permanently altered for the worse.

She had _yelled_ for it to stop. No one seemed to care. But she had to stop this. She couldn't stand watching what was about to happen. The pain was like having her heart wrenched in two. Instinct canceled out reason and Sakura Haruno plunged forward, eyes closed, head down. She had to get between the two… "_STOP IT!!!"_

_Shit!!_

_Can't stop now!!_

For just a brief instant there was room for a miracle. The space that random decisions can fill with chance-saviors at unexpected moments. None came. Then, there was no more room for miracles.

Jiraiya was a simple man. Straightforward. Ninja were suppose to hide who they really were of course, the whole 'Never give your enemy anything they can use against you,' thing. But Jiraiya could not shake who he was. He was sure perversion was something genetic. So when he had begun to pass by the women baths he (quite naturally_)_ paused. He had been on his way to the hospital, Naruto seemed to spend all his free time there these days. _He is coming along nicely. Despite the rough beginning, he's finally forcing people to see him._

The Toad Sage felt a twinge of guilt. He'd left him alone of course. Justified it as well. Despite being the closest thing the child had left to actual family, the Legend had abandoned him and left the village once again. Shadowing the movements of his former comrade took priority. _The village's safety came first after all._ The second the thought crossed his mind he discarded it- he had merely been selfish. In actuality it was the combination of guilt over letting his friend change in the first place, and the guilt of letting another student die. At the time he hadn't needed a living reminder of what a failure he was.

_But the time changes you, doesn't it?_ Here he smiled quietly- the kind of smile a grandfather gets when he thinks about his grandchildren. _Now, I can see what's important again._ Orochimaru was behind him completely now. The next time he encountered him, _the next time will be the last._

What also reassured the lecherous innocent was how well Naruto had developed. _Despite it all- despite being alone (you goddamn fool) and despite being ostracized…_ Pride flowed through the Sannin. It further drowned out his guilt. _You didn't need me at all._ That was a lie to. But he let himself keep this one. It mimicked the truth close enough. The sage of Myobokuzan Mountain felt secure and comfortable for the first time in years. The people he truly cared about were growing stronger, _growing up._ _It's all finally working out._ He had defended his village in time of war. He had returned a former Legend to her people, bringing a leader to his village. He himself had returned to the life of the young Naruto Uzumaki and was helping him grow up . _Rasengan is only the beginning kid, I'll get you squared away._

So it was that the serene, perverted, honorable Jiraiya, turned briefly from his path, and proceeded to conduct his "research" for his next novel. The delay ensured he would witness only the immediate aftermath of the fight between his beloved protégé and the village prodigy. He never conducted another act of "research," and never wrote another novel.


	6. Chapter 6

"Now what do we do?" This was the first time the Hokage had been calm in minutes. The verbal tongue lashing and abuse had gone beyond professional reprimand and become downright personal. Words like, 'irresponsible,' 'reckless,' and 'personal failure,' had been thrown around like shuriken, each meant to wound as much as upbraid. _She feels responsible too huh?_ sulked Jiraiya mournfully. _I guess this time it is my fault that she's hurt…_ Neither copy-nin nor Toad sage could look up yet to meet their leader's gaze.

The question remained open. Kakashi didn't have an answer. Instead he offered more horrible information. "Sasuke, is, more than likely a flight risk, as is Naruto." The statement was stilted, not at all Kakashi-like. Tsunade stared straight ahead now, as if it was the closed door to her office that had spoken and not Kakashi. "Where are the boys now?"

"Naruto's back at his place, I've got Iruka watching him, Kakashi took Sasuke back to his quarters, Pakkum's keeping an eye on it right now." Jiraiya finally worked up the nerve to look up. His longtime friend and teammate seemed deflated, somehow defeated. _No matter how much we hate the situation, it's not going to change is it?_

"Kakashi, head back to your place, both boys are to be considered under house arrest. You'll keep Sasuke paroled for now. Forget the mission, it was time sensitive. See if you can.." Tsunade trailed off. _See if you can salvage something? Not very likely._

"Jiraiya, you'll-"

"I'll be headed out to make contact with my source on Orochimaru."

This finally brought their gazes together, and for the first time since the whole sordid mess had begun, Tsunade actually felt pity for someone else besides the two families that were now in tatters.

"What? Isn't it best if you stay with-"

"No, I don't think so. Iruka knows him better and we might need the information if we're going to counter Orochimaru." _I'm not running away again,_ he silently pleaded into her eyes_._ But the white haired Sannin wasn't sure even he believed himself.

The pity is Tsunade's breast suddenly faded.

"We'll need to consider both boys future in the village."

That statement brought the room an entirely new icy atmosphere. Kakashi looked up at his Hokage. "You don't think, we'll have to send them both away?"

"Naruto almost definitely." Tsunade couldn't make eye contact with either anymore. Instead she seated herself and began to busy herself shuffling paperwork. "Jiraiya can take him on some journey, train him. People are already whispering about the Nine Tails, saying its-" she stopped suddenly. _Saying its what he really is, just some murderous beast,_ was left unspoken. It hadn't helped, the fact that the roof had become _such a god awful mess…_

"It might be better if we take him out of the environment, let the whole situation cool down for a couple years. His presence might only serve as a reminder."

"And Sasuke?"

Here the answer wasn't so obvious. The three stared at nothing in particular. "We'll begin preparations to move him to the ANBU," Tsunade spoke quietly after what seemed like an eternity.

"Anonymity will help keep him out of the villagers' sight as well as let us keep an eye on him. I'll make him one of my personal assistants. Kakashi, you'll have to accelerate his training as well."

It was a dangerous course of action and everyone knew it. They also knew there weren't many other good options. Send him away? Where? Incarcerate him? For how long and to what end? Forbid him from practicing jutsu? No, this was the best option. _But at this early in his life_… Kakashi could barely hide a shudder that fought to shake its way up his spine. Only Root had practiced such exceptions. This would be the first in a very long time, and it would close the door on any chance for what might pass as normal life. _Let's be honest, he hasn't had much hope of that ever since his brother's actions five years ago. And after what occurred this morning… _Kakashi felt a sharp, all too familiar pain.

_Failure._

Tsunade started fidgeting with the papers on her desk again. "I guess I'll have to prepare to speak with Haruno's parents."

"Tsunade,-"

"Don't you have a mission to be going on?"

Jiraya whipped back as if struck. There was nothing in the tone to suggest anger now. It was just deadpan. Somehow that hurt worse. They had been dismissed. Kakashi turned away, walked out, there was nothing left to say. Jiraiya stayed a moment longer, staring quietly at his Hokage. Her face revealed nothing, turned down, writing up the death notice. She didn't even look at him. Jiraiya felt his face contort, felt a momentary crack in his own impassive features, and if the Fifth Fire Shadow had looked up, she would have seen a man terrified, trapped in the midst of emotional turmoil born from pure guilt. _Oh God, this is my fault._

Tsunade did not look up. She had no more sympathy to share. Jiraiya spun and moved hurriedly out, slamming the door on the way. Tsunade didn't stop, didn't even start. For once she was firmly committed to her work.

Sakura Haruno was dead.

First day of pursuit

Tayuya was becoming more and more pissed off. Waiting around for her compatriot to finish off their caged annoyance was taking longer than expected. As the minutes ticked by Jirobo would occasionally chuckle, the sounds of attempted escape growing fainter until suddenly, they ceased altogether. "My, he's got quite a lot." Jirobo was practically salivating, hands glowing blue pressed against his earthen jutsu.

"Yeah, keep enjoying yourself fatass. Pack on a few more pounds." Jirobo was too busy savoring his 'meal' to even notice the insult. _God, this sucks!_ "Fine! I'm going to link back up with Kidomaru and Sakon! Come find us once you're done wasting your time on small fry!" The firebrand leapt off into the tree branches, vanishing from sight. Jirobo barely noticed. "My God," he muttered to himself, "what a meal."

Naruto had stopped his efforts to escape when his punches had degenerated into open handed slaps against the rock. He couldn't manage a Rasengan in the state he was in, and his almost endless stamina seemed almost at its end. He found himself on both his knees panting, and no memory of how he had ended up there. The orange jump suit was heavy with sweat, and breathing was becoming laboriously difficult. _Damnit! I can't.. Damnit!_ Despair was starting to strangle his heart now, fear that he really wasn't going to make it. Even in the belly of the snake he had had some hope to latch onto. Some motivation. _But now..__**.**_

_ITS DIFFICULT ISN'T IT. TRYING TO DO THIS BY YOURSELF. LET ME HELP A LITTLE._

And Naruto remembered suddenly how he had ended up in this state. What had lead him down this cruel road to this latest cage.

_Naruto's jutsu strikes just a fraction before Sasuke's. It propels her, twisting her small fragile frame. Her green eyes are open now in shock- he can just barely see them from this angle. Has she turned her head slightly to face him? He's killed her but he doesn't know it yet. In an instant she is moving away from him, the spin and angle of attack propelling her up into the oncoming chidori. Sasuke can't see her eyes, only the petal pink hair that's been cut short so cleanly. His fingertips brush it for an instant. Then they burn through it._

_YOU KILLED HER._

_no_

_I KILLED HER_

_yes_

_I KILLED HER_

_The blood in his mind from her mangled remains runs into the same pool as Iruka's. The blood of his loved ones. He had saved them both. He had killed them both._

_LET'S MAKE THEM PAY_

The sudden pulse of chakra nearly floored Jirobo's senses. _He was almost out! I could feel him almost out!_ But there was no mistaking the spike, the incredible surge of power literally from nowhere. It was as if he had caged a newborn star, and suddenly Jirobo felt a flash of fear. "Tayuya!" came his panicked call.

An instant later he was airborne, the jutsu smashed apart by a hammerblow struck against the most resilient part of his wall. Jirobo rolled, spending the energy of the fall instead of absorbing it head on. He was triggering his second state as well. Fear was overwhelmed with an enzyme a thousand times stronger than adrenaline and his blood lust spiked. He was on his feet again, a great bloated killer with cat's eyes. He noted his opponent had changed as well. "You were holding out on me runt?! What'd you think you'd gain from that?"

The child was still there, but he was masked in a red, vibrant chakra that seemed to shift with anticipation. A malicious tail wagged threateningly behind the apparition, and Jirobo noted that the shroud had the appearance of some sort of animal. _Is that a dog?_

"_RARRARAHARHRAAARH!"_

The battle cry was more howl, and Jirobo felt the air actually sting his flesh as it reverberated the sound. _What is this guy?_ "Oh yeah! Let's go runt!" With a charge both enemies were headed straight for each other. And then suddenly, they weren't. The sound-nin found himself staring at the trees, his opponent no longer in front of him. "Huh?"

_Whrackchshhhh_

He felt his skin shred and crackle, felt the blow land on the entire right side of his body, felt the left side moving through the tree trunk like it was made of thin paper. The pain would come later if it had time to catch up. One side torn, burned and bloody, the other was pulverized by the impact. Slowly, the once dangerous personal guard of Orochimaru took stock of his surroundings. He was lying flat on his voluminous stomach and he couldn't feel the left side of his body. He wished he couldn't feel his right. And hunched above him, left claw raised high, a demon with red eyes stared into his.

The fear was back. "Wha-wai-wait, we can-"

The claw came down.

It was probably after the third or fourth blow that Naruto realized what he was doing. The monster-thing had ceased moving, ceased screaming. In fact, it now resembled the fat bully he had seen just before his incarceration. Resembled from the neck down. The skull was nowhere to be found. Uzumaki stared at his hands. The fingernails were more like claws, the palms encased in a bubbling red liquid that felt more like warm gas. Through the translucent red he could see bits of brain and bone hammered into the earth. _Did I do this?_

_YES, I DID THIS._

And Uzumaki ran. He ran with speed that came from the attempt to escape that which resided within him. And the very thing he tried to escape aided him, speed him on. He wanted to get away, and it wanted him to try as hard as he could. He ran in no particular direction for what seemed like hours, at speeds he had never imagined himself achieving. It didn't change the singular fact that he wasn't getting any closer to his goal. _I can't get away from it!_

_I AM YOU_

Anger and fear seemed to fuze into something which only a drowning man might recognize. The world became a blur under his shrouded claws and, as it sped away, Naruto Uzumaki finally lost control. He might have been on a tree branch, or sprinting across the earth (or even water), or perhaps airborne in mid-leap. The child was simply no longer aware of such basic facts. Sheer exhaustion had suddenly coupled with hopelessness; with a snap, the boy's consciousness gave, collapsing into a pit so dark and deep that even the snarling laughter of the Fox could no longer reach him.

Sakon loved his job. Being the leader filled him with such a disgusting flush of power it almost acted as another curse mark. But this delay was eating at him. The mutant knew just exactly what his master expected, and if he didn't deliver quickly, his wrath would flare, plans would be disturbed, and he and his brother's career would end suddenly at the point of a scalpel. Never mind the fact that the command itself possessed a near overriding quality that forced him to obey. Free will was something Sakon could barely remember these days. Just another word someone else used to describe the difference between those who remained weak and those who became strong. He turned his head toward Kidamaru's hiding spot, then called out, "I do believe they are going to be smarter than we anticipated."

No longer seeing a reason to remain concealed, the spider let himself down from the foliage, dropping toward the ground on the weblines he had spun for his supports. Eyes twinkling deviously, upside down frown appearing as a smile, the minion stared at the team leader(s).

"So, it seems." The short response only made Sakon snort as he stepped out of his blind into the open forest floor.

"I suppose it was too much to hope that the great copy-nin himself would come charging straight into our little trap."

The spider dropped down neatly next to the twin(s), two of the arms flipping the agile nin easily to his knees where he squatted like a bizarre gargoyle, staring south toward Konoha.

"Do you think they're even in pursuit?"

"Of course there in pursuit you fool! You don't let the single most powerful weapon in your arsenal run off!"

_My plans always work, this idiot just wants to argue and belittle!_ In the back of his mind however Sakon knew there was the possibility he had miscalculated. If the new vessel wasn't sent out in pursuit then all the planning would be for naught. _Damn you Kakashi, of all the Hidden Leaf, why did you have to be the vessel's guardian?!_

"We stuck around long enough to confirm both went to meet the Hokage, the only reason could be they were both being sent." Sakon didn't know who he was trying to reassure. _We know their coming, the smoke means someone's behind us. _The anger was building in the twin(s) chest, and Sakon felt his brother stir ever so slightly, a sign that he truly was growing upset. If he didn't find some way to release it soon, he might try to kill his fellow Sound-nin. It had happened before.

"Teh, if we don't hurry, we might-"

The senbom would have gone straight through his neck if Sakon hadn't had eyes in the back of his head. As it happened, he barely had time to veer and roll right as the sharp needle whizzed through the space his vertebra had previously occupied. Kidamaru was also moving, springing up, somersaulting head over heels in the air to get a look at the would-be assassin.

_How the hell did they get behind us?!_

Two Konoha nin had proudly displayed themselves. Their stance was cocky, confident. _Jonin?_ Kidamaru's brain buzzed, _must have been a mission and their returning, that's some bad luck. They were almost home._ The spider's smirk was back as he landed neatly beside his partner(s) and smoothly spun to face the intruders.

"Seen you before," the one with the vicious burn tissue started, "been looking forward to getting even. Where's the rest of your team?"

Kidamaru had a vague memory of eviscerating someone in a cloud of smoke, but for the life of him he didn't know why it would come to mind now. The thought evaporated, replaced by the overriding need to kill. Sakon was already triggering his curse seal. Kidamaru started his as well.

"It won't be so easy this time," stated the one with the bandana on as he popped another senbom into his mouth.

"No," replied Kidamaru with an overeager response, "it'll be even easier."

Kidamaru's second set of hands released the thread-thin spider silk they had been holding the entire time, and suddenly the forest rained daggers.


	7. Chapter 7

_The beginning at the End_

"Naruto"  
He called again but still the figure didn't turn around. The shorter of the genin stood across a waterfall on the immense statue of a shinobi from nearly a century past. Sasuke felt a strange sense of foreboding. He had only made peace with what had happened a short hour ago. He hadn't even begun to consider how he was actually going to complete his mission. _Did I really think he would just come back with me?_ Now that he was honest with himself, he wasn't sure what he thought was going to happen. Moving forward had seemed to have been the easiest thing to do. Still… _I can't let him leave._

"Naruto!" this time he called with more urgency. Slowly, the remainder of Team 7 turned around. Sasuke stifled a gasp. His fellow shinobi's face was a contorted mask, the eyes gone red, the whisker-like shading of the cheeks dominating his pink flesh. The front of the ridiculous orange jumpsuit he insisted on wearing was ripped in a dozen places; it looked like he had been mauled by an animal and left rabid.

"_Oh, it's you," _came a growled reply.

_Naruto?_ Sasuke was at a loss. Even across the divide of the waterfall he could feel the hate and bloodlust.

Naruto spoke again before he could think of anything to say himself, "_I'm leaving Konoha. I know who I am now, and I won't stay there."_ With what seemed to be an effort the stunted runt in torn orange jerkingly turned away and began staggering north away from the only place he had called home.

And Sasuke knew that he had failed. _What did you think was going through his mind? What could anyone have said to you to change your mind after what happened? _Sasuke hated himself, felt his own tears well up, his head fell. _Now, we really are the same._ "Naruto," he whispered into the dead air. On a whim, he lifted his head back up. It saved his life.

Sasuke Uchihia's reflexes threw him backwards as Naruto Uzumaki fell like a thunderbolt into the space he had been standing in a moment prior. His double handed knuckle drop smashed into the stone instead of the Uchiha's skull, tossing fist sized chunks of rock fifteen meters into the air. Sasuke had three meters max between him and his would-be killer. Given the distance Uzumaki had just covered in an instant, Sasuke knew it wasn't near enough. He triggered his sharingan just as the assault began anew.

The third tomoe in his irises had added hyper sensitivity to his vision, allowing the detection of every twist in orange fiber, every muscle movement in his friend's pulsing arm and animated frame; coupled with his analytical ability, Sasuke could correlate and imagine precisely what was about to happen based on the action momentarily prior to its occurrence. For all intents and purposes, Sasuke could see a split second into the future.

And he was needing every second he could get. Naruto was throwing wild haymakers, shooting multiple jabs, even lashing out with his short legs in powerful, wild kicks. The flurry was on par with the speed of jonin. Naruto had never been a taijutsu expert, but Sasuke was more than aware that this attack lacked even the finesse of a brawler. Naruto had gone feral.

The raven haired youth turned aside one blow with an open palm, slid sideways away from a savage kick and slipped under a brutal slash that was probably meant to tear one of his eyes out with fingernails. Sasuke was dancing a quick step between life and death, and the margin for error was shrinking.

_How is he this fast?_

Sasuke calculated he had one chance. He had to stop his friend's assault- had to reason with him for a moment.

_If this is the way you want it- fine!_

Sasuke saw his opening in the next wild hook Naruto made with his left. With a sudden chakra-fueled pounce Sasuke had his left arm up, pressing into the other boys elbow, locking it out and forcing the arm flat against the owner's chest. Same time, Sasuke's right fist fed Naruto his teeth. Naruto's head snapped back, his right arm going in wild, desperate to return punishment on the sudden aggressor. Sasuke was ready. From his periph he saw the right, pulled back as the fist came in, caught the wrist with his own right-_fully extend_, left still pressed into the elbow lock, short skip, right foot to back of left knee, _lean forward-_

_C_rasH_S_rak!

Sasuke landed on top of the thing masquerading as Naruto. Arms crossed across chest, both elbows were now locked under Sasuke's weight and he had felt the tendons hyperextend- Naruto wouldn't be able to push him off. Just to be safe the Uchiha had him by both wrists as well. Red eyes glared into crimson.

"Naruto, what are you doing!"

Sasuke tried to put a little of a commanding tone into his voice that he had heard Kakashi use on occasion, but he had a feeling he was just coming off as scared. He seemed to have control, _but…_

The Naruto-thing laughed in his face.

"_Don't call me that,"_ it growled, _"I'm going to Orochimaru. And I'm going to kill him. Then I'm going to come back to the village. And kill everyone else. But first, I'm going to kill you." _

Sasuke blinked. _Kill Orochimaru? Kill the villagers?_ These seemed to simply be gross impossibilities. Then the Naruto-thing did the impossible. Sasuke had no idea how he had gotten airborne, below him the Naruto-thing was on its feet, knees bent, preparing to spring up after him.

_Move!_

Sasuke twisted mid air, just avoiding the creature's attack, he felt the hem of his jacket tear as knife-like fingernails just failed to touch his flesh, then it was falling like a star, arcing toward the river below. Sasuke made a three point landing on the statue once more, bending the knees and using his left hand to cushion his landing.

_He threw me off with chakra!_

The stunned savant watched as the thing that had once been his friend splashed into the river, hundreds of meters away.

Then the surprise went away. Uchiha Sasuke felt the beginnings of a new emotion. He wasn't sure what it was just yet. But it was telling him one thing.

_Move forward._

Sasuke Uchiha shot down the statue like a man possessed, stealing momentum and forming handsigns.

_I'm going to bring you back. I'm not going to lose._

_Two Days Before_

To dodge every blade would have been like trying to dance through raindrops. This didn't mean that the jonin didn't try to, merely that the odds weren't in their favor. It didn't help that Genma and Raido were both used up from the raid into Fall-nin territory; stumbling into a trap set by an enemy clearly expecting serious quarry would have been difficult to get out of in its own right, _but in the state we're in..._

Genma spat his senbon at a golden spike heading straight for his face, corkscrewed his body, twisted forward, raised his left arm to avoid another part of the razor storm, and thirteen blades struck his body. Somewhere through the blinding pain, the proctor saw the incoming punch. The fist was covered in grey chitin and seemed to be flying out of a nightmare. _SWIp!cRaK!_ With a twist Genma managed to let the blow glanced off the side of his skull instead of crushing his nose. Genma's eyesight disappeared again for a moment and he found himself scrambling away on his fingertips and toes, anticipating the next blow to be the finisher.

_Did they know we were coming! _Genma's vision returned and he was able to see the monster which the fist belonged to. _What on earth-!_ Gone was the pale teenager, in its place a beast with a horn and two heads. Cat's eyes brimmed with madness and a mouth(s) full of fangs emptied laughter into the air. It was speaking, gloating, enjoying the situation. Genma wasn't paying attention. He pretended he was, and he couldn't hide the pain from his face, but he was too professional too waste the opportunity his opponent was giving him.

Instead , Genma felt. Of the thirteen blades only one was lodged in a vital position, nearly passing through a gap in the ribs, making it difficult to breath. _My skull might be fractured also, the way I'm seeing double._ Genma knew he'd have to end this quickly. Somewhere to his right he heard the crunch of blade against armor and knew that Raidowas fighting for his life against the six armed freak. _This guy still hasn't shut up, I might be able to get him in a rush-_

"-that's why your tra-" Sakon's prey sprung at him, catching him by surprise. The twin(s) only managed a brief step back as the blur slammed into him with a kunai. _My heart!_ His sternum would have buckled under the impact, the point would have hit the muscle, and even more blood would flowed out over his attacker's hands- if he wasn't the twin(s).

"YOU!" came the angry response of Ukon who had generated his hand in the center of their chest, taking the blade through his palm instead of their heart(s).

Genma tried to pull away, get out of range of any counterattack, but found himself unable. A clawed hand held onto his wrist, refusing to let him disengage from the handle of his weapon. _There are two of them!_

Genma didn't see the other clawed fist which smashed like a hammer into his previously bruised temple; he had lost all feeling in his legs as they buckled, motor control brained away. He felt the monster cast him aside, his nerveless fingers slipping off his kunai's handle, leaving it to rest with the monster(s) flesh. He landed on his side and the momentum of the throw rolled him painfully over unto his stomach, driving the blades in deeper. The one between his ribs shot forward a painful inch, and Genma felt his left lung collapse. _So close..._

Sakon and Ukon looked away from their beaten victim, turning their attention to the battle between the Leaf and his fellow Sound. The jonin had lost his black katana, blood was running into his eyes, and his right leg wasn't working correctly, pin-cushioned by Kidomaru's custom kunai. Unlike his partner, he had chosen to weather the blade storm by protecting his primary organs, sacrificing his limbs instead.

The spider monster had moved to a tree branch, a golden trail of secreted armor marked his path, discarded once he had gotten clear of his opponent's katana. Kidomaru was toying with his prey now, taunting him by explaining he wanted to play a game. _Fool, just end him already!_ Sakon had a poor sense of hypocrisy. Idly he pulled the kunai casually from his brother's pierced hand, allowing them to begin the regeneration process.

Kidomaru was aiming a vicious curved arrow along his secreted bow, aiming down on the nearly immobilized target. Sakon felt his annoyance begin to shift to minor appreciation. This would at the very least be a little entertaining. He could feel his (their) blood start to flow the injured appendage, felt the wound start to close. He was going to owe Ukon when this was over and his brother would never let him forget it. He never did. Kidomaru drew his bead, arrow drawn back. The Konoha nin looked tense, truly worried. _That leg isn't going to give you much room to maneuver is it? I wonder how you're going to try to avoid this?_

The archer held his pose. And continued to hold it. _I enjoy the anticipation in these games too, but- _"What are you waiting for? Kill him already!" Sakon was starting to get tired of holding his curse seal in place. Unless he was killing something there was little reason to continue to waste the chakra flood he had forced to the surface.

"Sakon, I can't move… GeurrK!" The chirping had appeared a moment before the assassin- a nin with grey hair who had punched straight through Kidomaru's chest from behind, his hand glowing with power, catching hold of the ballista round, severing it in two.

"Kakashi," breathed the injured Leaf, and suddenly Sakon had a feeling he was in a good deal more trouble than he initially anticipated. Shikamaru released the shadow jutsu a moment after the lightening blade punched through the six armed monster with three eyes. He would have hated to have engaged in a fair fight with these things; given the state of the two jonin they had found being massacred, he could only imagine what they might have done to him and his teammates had they been sent instead. _Thank God we have Kakashi with us._

Moving back into the foliage, keeping his head down, the chunin began to work his way quietly headfirst down the tree, remaining in the shadows that served his family so well. _One down, one to go. This might be easier than I though-_

The blades were in Shikamaru's left shoulder, arcing into his flesh, metal tip striking bone. Sharp pain forced the ninja's hands out involuntarily and he hit the forest floor unglamorously. "Ghah!" the chunin pushed himself back on his hind quarters.

_Oh man! There's a third one somewhere? We may have blown it-_ Shikamaru threw a hand up in a vain attempt to shield himself from the oncoming kunai that were headed his way.

C!langclanclinkclack!

Blade struck blade, and an opposing spread of kunai scattered the enemy projectiles, sparing Shikamaru's form.

"So this is the Uchiha we've heard so much about. Let's hope he can do more than just this,"

The beast in front of them looked identical to the one that had just watched them kill his partner, but Shikamaru's mind could barely register that at the moment. His brain was backpedaling like mad, trying to analyze the situation and come up with a new exit strategy, all while trying to pry the kunai from his back shoulder. All the cards seemed to be on the table. Sasuke had sprung from his overwatch position, whipping shuriken and daggers with pinpoint accuracy to protect his teammate. They were aware of his shadow jutsu, and Kakashi was definitely already in play. They had nothing else going for them.

_Kakashi…_

"Don't move Copy-nin, or all give this one his last scar."

The monster had moved- split into two monsters and moved- one heading into the woods, the other taking Namiashi hostage. One monstrous claw held the wounded jonin under the chin, the other a dagger which he pressed cruelly into his throat.

The split had caught the jonin by surprise while he had been disentangling himself from the corpse of Kidomaru. The body fell like a ragged lump of flesh and thudded on the forest floor, arms splayed about like some cast down idol. Kakashi had of course made use of the moment when he pulled his hand free of the freshly slain foe, and only a select few would have noted the handsign he had formed behind the corpse.

"Let him go," spoke the second Kakashi from behind the hostage taker, blade pressed into the Sakon's throat.

Sakon's eyes widened in surprise. Then realization set in and he snickered at the cruelty of the turnabout. "Shadow clone, what a pathetic cop out." The doppelganger pressed the blade forward half a millimeter and the monster's breath caught.

"I said let him-" the Kakashi-clone stopped in mid-sentence, _is that music?_

Then the forest exploded.


	8. Chapter 8

_Two days after the murder of Iruka _

The first thing he was aware of was the sound. The boy didn't think he was awake, but he knew he was no longer nothing. And he wasn't dreaming.

_Oh no._

He was wet, or that was the sensation his brain associated with his location.

_OPEN YOUR EYES_

The boy looked without seeing. There was something wrong with the setting.

_There's too much water_

And his stomach burned. The malicious eyes glared out of the cage at him and Uzumaki felt like he was being sucked into a whirlpool.

_Why is this happening? _

The eyes glowered back at him.

_Why me?_

The boy couldn't tell whose eyes were looking at him.

_THESE QUESTIONS ARE MEANINGLESS BOY. _

_Are these my eyes?_

_ACCEPT THAT YOU AND I ARE THE SAME._

_WOULD YOU HAVE KILLED HER OTHERWISE?_

_WOULD YOU HAVE LET HIM DIE OTHERWISE?_

_That's not true!_

The boy threw his hand out in a sweeping gesture; a child swatting at vengeful ghosts.

_A PART OF YOU WANTED IT BOY! YOU LET THAT WEAKLING TEACHER DIE BECAUSE HE NEVER CARED FOR YOU, NEVER SHOWED AN OUNCE OF GODDAMN CONCERN; NOT UNTIL YOU STOLE THAT SCROLL!_

Naruto froze. For the briefest instant he felt his heart stammer. Felt the doubt flutter in place of the natural beat. And in that space between moments, he knew the words of the monster where true. A part of him, an honest, dark, primitive part, rejoiced at the death of Iruka.

_wait_

The boy was drowning then, and panic struck full force. _When did the water get so deep?_

He thrashed, desperately trying to get to the surface, but nothing was right. Time was crawling by, he couldn't tell the direction he was swimming, and the water was more than suffocating. It was clawing, intentionally trying to hold him down and snuff him out.

_Pleasepleasepleaseplease_

Then suddenly light burst into Uzumaki's eyes, air filled his lungs, and the boy awoke from his living unreality back to the uncaring world. His scream was hoarse, and quickly degenerated into a hacking cough. Hardly caring, the boy rolled off his seething belly onto his back, still half blind from the sudden return of light. Then there was a moment of blissful nothingness as his mind ceased to reel and his senses began to once again feed him information. He could feel the fresh grass of the field he was lying in, poking his neck and under his palms. It must have been wide open as he smelled the clean air of a blowing breeze. His first legitimate thought was that the sky had become a pair of green eyes.

_Sakura?_

Then reality reasserted itself.

_Twelve hours before_

Kakashi rolled right, as the club came down on the branch and smashed his perch to splinters. There was a dark reality that many shinobi tried to ignore in their horrible, flawed, imperfect world. That was the existence of monsters. Not just psychotic murderous killers, but the true presence of unnatural abominations (often time brought into existence by the psychotic murderous killers) who assaulted reason and mocked nature's laws simply by showing up. To look too close would invite madness; to not look would be courting death. Kakashi took in his new opponent as he skipped across the forest floor and sprung back for the canopy above. A compartmentalized part of his brain briefly realized his shadow clone was already dead, there had been a brief moment of lethargy in his copy, and then-

_Disruption-Get into cover- figure out what you're dealing wi-_

The second abomination's shadow tipped him and Kakashi knew by rights he was dead. The creature was coming straight down on him and he was going straight up. _One shot…_

Tayuya watched her demon smash the copy-nin into the forest floor with its club. Dirt, leaves, and debris were kicked fifteen meters all around the impact, the ogre not showing a single ounce of pleasure, joy, nor remorse.

The third ogre stood as still as a corpse in the tree line; its soul-maggot crawling once more into the dead flesh that was it confines. It was satiated for now. If Sakon was aware that the fact he was still alive was purely an accident, that the soul-maggot had struck the shadow clone and missed him by a hair's breadth out of pure luck (not planning), he showed no sign.

The musician ceased her play, leapt from cover, and landed next to Sakon, who was still holding the Konoha nin captive with his kunai.

" You two fags having the time of your life or something?" Tayua's abuse wasn't meant to cover any type of familial concern. She despised this deviant(s), almost as much as the fat ass. In truth, the only one she could somewhat tolerate was the freak Kidomaru, but from the look of it… _Just my rotten luck. He's the one to get killed? Just great._

"Tayua," recognized Sakon as he slit his hostage's throat with a contemptuous move, letting the jonin finally fall to earth. Sakon looked up at the crater where he had seen the real Kakashi obliterated, his sense of superiority again returning.

"Nicely done. The pride of the village, crushed by the power of our jutsu."

"_My_ jutsu ass-wipe, don't act as if this was part of your plan."

Sakon whirled about rage rising, rescue forgotten, ready to murder his savior and teammate.

"What did you say to me you little whore?"

She had plucked the kunai from the ground where the Kakashi-clone had dropped it. She imagined stabbing the freak in his side, slipping the blade into a kidney, felt his blood flow over her fingers for a second-before her imagination ceded control again to her conscious senses. She was powerful, deadly, and her blood was up- never once did her eyes leave Sakon. She dropped the kunai back on the ground.

"You heard what I said."

There was a threat in the statement, a '_Try me, I can't wait to kill you after seeing how badly you fucked up'._ Sakon made a decision then. He would kill her after the mission was complete. _You're nowhere near our equal_. He considered for a moment butchering her right then. He saw her fingers twitch on the flute and for an instant he thought she had sensed his intent. _Might have to make my move now-_ then he realized she wasn't looking at him. _Oh hell-_

Kakashi dropped the nine meter tall corpse-thing that had nearly crushed him fifteen meters into the earth with his decapitation technique, climbing its back like a ladder as he let it slide beneath the surface, throwing himself skyward as he broke out of his own sand trap- he spun like a top at the zenith, partly for effect, partly to hide his hand signs, _ox, rabbit, monkey-_ as his body whipped around his raikari burned in his right hand. Sakon smirked, _he needs to be on the ground to hit me with that, he's fast, but I'll- _then Kakashi threw it.

Tayuya had the flute to her lips the second she saw one her pawns drop off the board. The copy nin was even better than she had believed, using either a substitution, genjutsu, or doton to avoid his death- she was curious which it was. _When I have him crippled, I'll have to ask. _She blew two sharp notes as she saw her prey go airborne, she didn't know what the sharingan user had up his sleeve, but she suspected it was ranged, and she wanted something between her and the ninjutsu master.

The attack lashed into the mountain of flesh that had imposed itself between the lightening and the musician. The flesh blistered and the monster gave a sudden shudder, but otherwise it seemed unaffected. Kakashi cursed as he realized that at least one of Orochimaru's lackeys had some tactical sense. As he feet touched ground, the horned monster who had just murdered Raido burst from behind the seared ogre, screaming profanity, its hands a blur of zodiac representations.

_Music still going, not good,_ Kakashi realized as the thing he had just dropped into the earth began to pull itself out of the sink trap, and the third (and as of yet, untouched) monstrosity came barreling down on him from his right, its spiritual abomination pouring out its lips. He could almost feel the note of triumph in the tune that coiled in the air. _Wait a minute…_

Kakashi dipped left, dropped down, dodging the spirit maggot, at the same time he rolled, kicking his feet off the ground, just missing having his legs sheared off by the wind jutsu the curse sealed monster had let loose with a handclap. Kakashi was calculating now, trying to formulate a plan, _I can keep ahead of those things, but this horned one I can't predict -_

Seventy-four punches all aimed for his face and moving with the force of a freight train blurred within millimeters of his skull in less than half a second, the sharingan visual acuity allowing him to dodge the chakra fueled flurry with a minimum of effort; Sakon roared his frustration and leapt back as one of the Doki summons tried to splatter Kakashi from behind. Without even looking the Leaf shinobi threw himself backwards between its legs, just being missed by the open palm plunging down to splatter him.

With a quarter of his chakra remaining, his dependence on his Sharingan increasing, and stamina starting to slide, Kakashi prayed. _Shikamaru, I could really use a hand about now…_

_Kakashi, where the hell are you?_

Sasuke never showed respect to his elders, and at first one would have assumed that this was part of an Uchiha superiority complex. In truth, it was due to a lack of adult supervision to reinforce the use of societal niceties. It, of course, didn't help that he _had _a superiority complex... At the moment however he wasn't clearly feeling it.

The horned beast stared at him with a malicious, almost hungry look. Sasuke fought to hold his hands steady, kunai clutched between his fingers, a standard fighting stance taught to all academy graduates. He felt childlike. The beast laughed.

"You? You're the future vessel? You're what they had the copy-nin guarding? I thought for sure you had some promise when I heard you killed your worthless teammate-"

The daggers were free of his hands before Sasuke realized he had even thrown them, his yell an unintelligent explosion of rage. His hands were forming signs even as he saw his target bat the futile blade storm aside with his chitin covered arm. _Snake, ram,tig-!_ And Sasuke for the first time in three years fumbled his handsigns. The shock of the failure was almost as powerful as the backhand that tossed him aside like a piece of flotsam on a wave.

"Sasuke, damnit!" vaguely he was aware of the concerned curse coming from Shikamaru, but his sense of apathy was overwhelming, _just let him kill me, _his sharingan slipped away and again Sasuke saw the world by its true light. Ukon rolled his master's prize off the tree trunk he was lying against with his foot, a sense of disgust almost forcing bile into his throat. The eyes of his/their prey were coal black, blank, and barely seemed to register him. "So pathetic. My brother got me up for this?" Ukon bent forward, clawed hand aiming for the throat. A split second before he ripped it out he realized the shadows were trying to kill him.

_Damnit!_ Shikamaru's shadow chased the beast back three meters from his fallen comrade and another four up a tree before he sprang up and repositioned himself between the predator and the catatonic Uchiha.

"Sasuke," Nara hissed through clenched teeth, "get up." It was hard enough to maintain a strategy of keeping both himself and his teammate alive, but if they actually wanted to do more than survive he was going to need a hand. _I thought you were back with us just an hour ago!_

Shikamaru realized that no help would be coming from Kakashi anytime soon, the noise of the conflict from somewhere as near as twenty meters off guaranteeing that they were worlds away.

Several ideas spun through his head, _pretend to discard Sasuke,no he'll run you down, keep him moving and hit him with blades,naw, you're a terrible shot, blades as a distraction, hit him with your shad-_

"Why the hell are you protecting that useless shit?" the monster called down from the tree limbs. Shikamaru thanked a God he wasn't sure he believed in that it had just given away its location. Carefully he came out of his crouch, and took two steps forward.

"Look at him, he doesn't even want to live anymore and there you are, standing over him like some mother hen." Shikamaru stopped grinding his teeth, his hands took up a relatively obscure finger lacing, and his mind relaxed.

"You probably wouldn't understand it even if I explained it."

_Wump!_ A sound not dissimilar from an exploding tag going off beneath the earth seventeen meters away almost made Shikamaru jump.

"Try me."

_Cr_U_Mp!_ tHraC_k_! Nearby the battle between Kakashi and what sounded like a herd of elephants was reaching catastrophic proportions.

"I don't like him, his ideals seem exactly the opposite of mine, and he's putting me in danger."

Shikamaru's hands shifted into the sign of the rat.

"So why?"

"Because he's my comrade, and-"

Here Shikamaru's hands broke the seal and he gestured with his thumb towards the forehead protector pinned to his sleeve.

"-he's got one of these,"

"Well, what have you got to say for yourself now that your_ comrade_ cost you your life?"

Ukon spoke these words an inch from the back of Shikamaru's neck, directly between Sasuke and the shinobi who had committed the cardinal sin of dropping his guard. Even in a world of chakra users, Shikamaru Nara was always surprised at how fast a person could move while keeping silent; his first warning had been hot breath on his neck. For a brief instant he feared he may have miscalculated his strategy.

"Checkmate," came Uchiha Sasuke's response for them both as the chidori's loud chirp suddenly filled their ears. A shadow of a smirk ghosted over Shikamaru's lips. "Not use to protecting your own back are you?"


	9. Chapter 9

_The morning of the Recovery mission_

Tsunade looked at her patient's sleeping face once more, so peaceful under anesthesia, and remembered his final question: _Do you think there will be flowers again when I wake up?_

_Odd question, _Tsunade thought pensively. She started to bite her lip, realized the others were watching her, and suppressed the urge. The last thing she needed was for the medical corps of Konoha to suspect she'd lost her confidence. She nodded to the three other doctors who nodded curtly in reply, carefully rolling Rock Lee over off his back, lying him gently on his stomach. Now would come the true test.

_I wish Shizune was here-_

Another thought the Hokage quickly shoved from her mind. _We're so short staffed on jonin. And that mission has to go perfectly. If regimes shift in the Falls, we might have real trouble on our hands._ Personal preferences suppressed by political necessity, Tsunade pushed her last insecurities from her mind and concentrated completely on the patient whose life she was about to dramatically improve or cut short.

The actual operation was straightforward, and the procedure would be quite brief. Within a minute they would know if they had killed him or not. The trick was in the preparation. That they would be meticulous was a given, but they would need more than precision. _Gambling was never a strong suit of mine kid, so I suppose were both lucky it was you who made the wager._

"Lady Hokage?" the voice of the doctor wasn't concerned, merely curious. Tsunade let the quirk drop out of her lips. It had been the closest she had been to a smile since the Team Seven incident on the rooftop. It would be the last for some time to come.

Briefly Tsunade wondered if she was doing the right thing. She had thought these doubts were behind her, but she remembered the rooftop, and even more so, how this child had suffered these life threatening injuries in the first place. Lee's accident was very much a reflection of the Haruno tragedy, save the final step, and now Tsunade might herself be completing the contrast. The boy had used a forbidden technique, a dangerous one which placed his life in incredible danger. And here she was, endangering that life so the boy could return to their violent world. _Why do we teach kids such terrible tricks?_ She of course knew the answer. Start early so they would be better later on. But was the correct answer the moral one?

Sakura Haruno would never be getting any better, never improve past what she had been, at least not in this world. An accident wrought by angry boys recklessly wielding powerful techniques themselves had killed her. Her parents, her friends, her teammates and teacher, all wracked with guilt.

And now Tsunade saw the true comparison. If Lee died here the same story would repeat itself; what would become of his teammates, his teacher? _Guy will feel the same, if not worse than Kakashi, and what do you think he'll do? _If she succeeded, Lee would have a chance to improve, to get better_. It might be in the shinobi world, but it's the only world he knows. The only one we know. I've got to succeed._

"All right, let's begin."

_One day after the beginning of the recovery mission_

As Naruto sat up the green eyes moved back. The face becam clear as it pulled back and Naruto saw a young teenager, white hair and with a noble face. _Not Sakura,_ the boy thought crestfallenly. _If it had been her_, the boy thought, _it might have meant that the whole thing's been a horrible dream_. _Or that I was dead._ The last possibility felt strangely easier (albeit impossible) to live with.

The young man's white hair caught the breeze and shifted lazily. Two red dots were painted above his thin eyebrows, and an odd three stick tattoo rested on the center of his chest, partly exposed by the center cut in his kimono.

_At least he's not from the village,_ Naruto reassured himself. It meant the stranger didn't know what he had done yet. Naruto tried to figure out why the kimono the stranger was wearing bothered him.

Kimimaro stared coolly at the Leaf nin. He had seen the thing crash here into the field a blaze of red light. It had burned brightly for some time and then flared unexpectedly before going out. A part of Kimimaro knew he didn't have much time, he should be moving on. The Four clearly weren't nearby, implying things had gone incredibly wrong with the retrieval of the vessel. _Did Sasuke resist the offer after all? _And he knew his body could shut down at any given moment.

He felt nothing really. The need to succeed had simply driven the pain away (as had a large dose of tranquilizers from an amoral medical specialist- though the zealot was hardly aware), but his body was still degenerating, his lungs breaking down, and soon his heart tissue would mutate; flexible flesh to unmoving marrow, his bloodline itself would stop the flow of life through his veins. No, the former vessel had no time for this trifle and he should have disposed of him the moment he had found him defenseless. Yet something had stopped him. Orochimaru had already made the transfer, a few moments longer would not hurt anything, and he might gain some information on what had happened. And Kimimaro couldn't shake the feeling that he had found something interesting.

_It would be almost sacrilegious to destroy it without first knowing what it was._ The ghost of a memory slipped through his subconscious and the teenager began his interrogation.

"Tell me your name," Kimimaro demanded, tone neutral.

"Naruto," the child in torn orange replied miserably.

"Naruto. My name is Kimimaro. You're from the Hidden Leaf." Each sentence was a statement; the first had been to test the name, the second a simple exchange, the third a challenge in search of a reaction. He got one.

The blue eyes of the child jerked up fiercely, than then he reached up, un-did his leaf headband and pulled the symbol from his forehead. Kimimaro didn't know what to make of this, as the lost child seemed to cradle it in his arms, seemingly scared to lose it, yet unwilling to have it on his brow.

The zealot tried another approach. "What are you doing out here?"

Naruto hesitated, then asked a question of his own, "Kimimaro, if you did something really bad, if you let everyone down where you lived, what would that make you?"

"Good and bad are ethereal concepts. You need to discard those and find something that's real to grasp onto to give yourself meaning."

The Leaf shinobi gave him a confused look and Kimimaro suddenly realized he was speaking to someone who likely had the intelligence of the other Sound Four. The leader of the Sound Five had a brief moment of inspiration, remembering how just a few short hours before he had been tied to machines and tubes that forced life into him, useless to the one he worshipped. He simplified it.

"It would make you nothing, a corpse that breathed until you found a new purpose," then out of curiosity he asked, "What did you do?" Kimimaro had always heard that the Leaf village ninja were just, compassionate, and mostly forgiving. They were weak like that.

"I, I-I," the child stammered and looked down at the headband he held in his hands, "I killed the-"

Kimimaro saw the guilt then, and cut him off in disgust, _this thing needed to understand exactly what it is_,

"If you can't protect what's important to you, your nothing more than trash, and likely something worse,"

"Yeah, someone once told me something similar to that too," the boy replied as his tears started to drip onto his headband.

_The morning of the Recovery mission_

"We're losing him!" the monitors buzzed shrilly, signally that Lee's heart was on overdrive, close to giving out. Tsunade mentally cursed herself for losing her focus, the slip had let a marrow particle sneak past her technique into the bloodstream, and now the worst possible outcome was occurring.

They had been moving as fast as they could, but the window of repair had already been rapidly closing when the mistake occurred and now Tsunade could feel Lee's life slipping through her chakra coated fingers.

_Oh God please not again!_

Tsunade remembered her hands covered in blood, a wound that would not close, and a dead little boy on a slab.

_Please not again_

Tsunade was acting more on instinct now than anything, there simply wasn't time to think. Her hands flew up and down Lee's vertebrae, moving rapidly to ensure adequate time to return to the damaged arm and leg. The other doctors had stepped back, their presence now more hindrance than help. All three watched in total admiration and astonishment- and fading hope.

Another memory flashed through her mind: a beating heart under her hands against the odds.

"_Told you I'd win the bet."_

_One day after the beginning of the recovery mission_

"I just wanted his respect! Why couldn't Sasuke see that! Huh? Why did she get in theway! Whydid he have tadie to? 'S not fair! It wouldn't have been like this if he had just-"

Kimimaro interrupted the child's rant the second he recognized the name, "Sasuke? He's involved in this?"

Naruto stopped balling, eyes wide open in shock at the fact that the stranger had identified his teammate. He looked up from the tear streaked headband. "You know Sasuke?"

Kimimaro was many things, but a liar was not one of them, and he was proud of what he served. "He is to be the new vessel for Lord Orochimaru. He is the living embodiement of my hope. Where is he?"

And now the rage was spreading across the prodigal shinobi's face again. Kimimaro was immediately on guard, _something doesn't feel right, is it that red chakra again?_

"You work for that creep Orochimaru? You think Sasuke's someone important?" The questions were rising in volume, Naruto wasn't yelling yet, but he was getting there. Uzumaki got to his feet.

Kimimaro felt a wave of disgust, partly from the chakra Naruto was now exuding, and partly from the pathetic challenge the runt was making.

"Sasuke's purpose is to ensure Lord Orochimaru's survival and advancement. He is the reason I live. What is he to you?"

"He made me kill Sakura! Your friends murdered my teacher! AND ITS BECAUSE HE'S IMPORTANT?"

Now Uzumaki was yelling, and Kimimaro felt the threat grow real. He partly advanced his curse seal in anticipation of the attack he felt his next sentences would surely provoke.

"You already know what you are, Trash. Your significance and concerns pale in comparison to his importance. And you are clearly fleeing a village which has rejected you. You have nothing, you mean nothing, you are nothing."

Even as the child howled, even as the chakra spread over his body like a shroud, even as two tails sprouted, Kimimaro felt nothing but confidence. Part of it was Juugo's curse seal spreading across the surface of his skin making him flush with superiority, and part of it was knowing his opponent's motivation. _All that's driving him is anger. He doesn't stand a chance against me._

The demon snickered quitely in its cage as it felt the boy's hands cast the cold peice of metal to the side as he charge.

_Nearly 24 hours after the start of the Recovery mission_

Tsunade sat in the hallway outside the operating room. Family often requested-and were allowed-to wait here during surgeries; even though they would be no help, they still wanted to be close to their loved ones. Today it was empty except for her, and Tsunade wasn't sure how she felt about that. Guy had been needed elsewhere, a mission that had required the movement of midlevel classified material three countries away in half the normal time (_though he's no doubt flying back,_ the Hokage thought glumly) Tenten was on a security mission as well, and Tsunade wasn't sure what mission Neji Hyugga was currently assigned to, let alone if he would have come at all.

"Lady Hokage, we have injured coming in!"

The Hyugga around the corner quickly used the sudden commotion of nurses and wounded shinobi being rushed in to slip out unnoticed. _Lady Fifth is going to be too busy to ask now anyway._ The excuse filled him with part relief, part guilt. He wanted to know if the surgery had been a success, wanted to be sure that Lee would recover, but a part of him just hadn't been able to approach the stone faced Hokage. _I'm not worried. He couldn't be…_ _Of course he'll recover._ He was surprised he had even made it that close to the operating room without losing his nerve. Yet he hadn't used the Byakugan to check either. _Why is that?_ As he approached the exit to the hospital Neji swerved and entered the waiting room; here he began his vigil anew as penance. _  
_


	10. Chapter 10

Kakashi dipped back once again from Sakon, the snarling twin's spittle screeching by his face and splattering on his vest.

Ukon knew he should be dead. _These brats! I could have sworn he was down! I might still have a chance- _the twin spun, knowing even as he did the future vessel was a moment away from burning a hole through his heart.

"Do it now Sasuke!" Shikamaru began a spin of his own, hand clasping back to the symbol of the rat, trying to line the shadow technique onto the threat, _wait,wha-_

Sasuke, halfway into the killing blow, hesitated. He remembered (_Oh God I remember_) his hand splashing through her skull like it was made only of warm wax, the smell of burned hair. The boy hesitated, and then the maniac was on him.

Tayuya would have cursed if it hadn't meant taking her lips from the flute. _There's no way he could be interpreting the notes! No one's ever- _but the evidence was damning. Hatake was clearly reading the jutsu; sidestepping attacks and moves from the monsters without even looking._ Doesn't matter, _her spite-filled mind reasoned,_ between me and Sakon, will wear him down in the next minute or two… _Tayuya increased the tempo of the tune.

Ukon managed to seize the hesitant Uchihia's wrist, then, he was a part of him. Startled as Sasuke was the surprise was more jarring simply due to the utter lack of sensation the merger had provoked. It had been so seamless the chakra feeding the chidori hadn't even been disrupted and the electrical blade still chirped and burned in his left hand. "Ah shit!" Shikamaru breathed jumping back.

Kakashi spun this time to his left, tossing the last of his kunai in a handful at the monstrosity bearing down on him, its spirit leach bursting from between black lips like some parasitic tongue. He didn't have time to observe the exploding tag he'd wrapped around one's handle blow half its hideous face away; Sakon's claws were almost on his throat. The dance of death continued.

Sasuke's surprise was slowly turning into acute fear. _There's another head on my shoulder-_ was all his stunned mind would repeat. He stared into its yellow feline eyes and saw only the smug confidence of a victor. "Caught you finally." The statement, more than the thing's necrotic breath made the boy want to wretch.

Shikimaru, similarly stunned, had figured out just how badly things had gone wrong. _He's a part of Sasuke- meaning I can't attack without hurting him, he's got a hostage now .Need a new plan. Why'd you hesitate?_ The music and sounds of battle in the background weren't making it any easier to focus.

Ukon looked away from the vessel's anxious face at the chunin who was hesitating now. "Don't even think about that shadow of yours- it won't work on me now anyway." Here the body snatcher's right arm materialized from Sasuke side, reaching as if to stroke Sasuke's cheek. The boy swung the still burning chidori at it in disgust and fear- only to have the motion arrested by the sudden appearance of the twin's left claw, latching onto Sasuke's wrist from straight out his (their) chest.

"Hmph, you'd only end up hurting yourself anyway," the twin chuckled. His eyes hadn't even left Shikamaru. The chunin began to sweat. "See," the interloper continued as Sasuke struggled to get his chidori free from the iron grip that held it, "right now, I'm merging my cells with this worm's here, in another minute will be sharing almost all our bodily functions, right down to the cellular level." His fierce grin lacking mirth, made up for it in teeth.

"You coward, your hiding behind a hostage," Shikamaru really didn't think his taunt would lead to Ukon dropping his guard, mainly he was praying that the thing would just keep talking, he could only hope that it would drop some clue that he could exploit.

Ukon _shifted _a little inside Sasuke, provoking a grimace of discomfort from the violated. "You really are some kind of honor bound dumbass, you know that? A shinobi takes any advantage he can get a hold of- heh, I normally use this for assassinations anyway!"

Here Sasuke's trembling legs, much to his surprise began to turn him without his consent- _He's got control of some of my motor functions!_ The terror almost threatened to blank Sasuke's mind and he found himself concentrating on seemingly the one thing he could still control- the chidori that was still feeding off his chakra.

The twin continued to smirk back at Nara. Shikamaru had taken a step forward on instinct which had brought the right hand up to grasp Sasuke's chin. The Uchiha jerked, but couldn't get away.

_Don't stop, don't stop focusing on it or it's over_, the terrified voice railed in the teen's mind. He began to feel it burn his palm, started to feel the flesh char, just as it had in the hotel when- _Concentrate! Control it!_ The Uchiha focused.

"Now then, here's where it gets interesting," Ukon growled. "How badly do you want to keep this useless shit alive?" Shikamaru felt himself jolt. _He knows where I'm going with this_, Ukon snickered.

Sasuke had was only catching snatches of the conversation. The terror was starting to overwhelm and for a moment in his mind's eye he saw _his _eyes, red and pinwheel twisted. He started to smell his flesh burn. _Don'tloseit. Breathe, what did Kakashi teach you? Focus you loser!_

"You don't even have to off yourself. Just drive it in through your leg. I just don't want to be followed-"

Shikamaru and the monster that had become a part of him were still blathering away. Slowly, the electrical current ceased to singe his skin, _that's right, run it through every point in the chakra network, not over it, control it,breathe, run it around every cell, that way it can't hurt yo-_

And that's when the idea struck him. Sasuke wasn't even sure if it was _feasible_, but he didn't see the harm in trying it. _Keep focusing. _In the wood's the flutist's tune reached a fever pitch, as did the explosions and sound of struggle.

Ukon couldn't believe his luck, _I'm actually glad you got me up for this Sakon_, _after the show I'll slit this fool's throat, then I'll walk this meat sack back to you and Tayuya, will truss him up, and then be home by the end of the day._ Ukon's mind was too far gone to notice the vessel had stopped trembling.

"I don't suppose your chakra nature is lightening based is it?"

"Wha-" Ukon looked away from his intended victim into the eyes of his hostage and prize. They were coal black and filled with- _Confidence?_

Sasuke reversed his chakra flow, channeling the electrical current up his arm and into his body.

Kakashi knew he had only moments left. He couldn't line the sharingan up correctly on the curse sealed freak to get the genjutsu off, not if he wanted to keep following the chakra flow in the air directing the summons. The musician was dangerously careful a well, always moving one of her flesh golem's in front of herself every time he lined up with her.

Worse yet, the copy-nin had learned just how resilent these monstrosities were; he had sliced off one's arm with a raikari, blown one's face apart with tags, crushed another's legs with an earth jutsu, and still they simply refused to go down or de-summon. Kakashi had no doubts now about just what kind of shinobi the Snake Sannin had created_, can't let these things get away, can't let them get any of the platoon. Can't let them hurt-_ this time he was too slow, the kunai sliced into his arm and his blood was running free.

His kick threw the snarling murderer away from him, and he added his final shurikens for good measure, several grazing the berserker and drawing blood- _Not near enough._ That was when all three of the doki attacked from different angles. _Up it is-_ Kakashi pushed off the ground, just avoiding the dogpile of giant cadavers- and Sakon, also having gone airborne, knocked him from the sky with a wind jutsu.

Kakashi crashed in, barely able to spread the impact into the meat of his thigh and side, kicking his legs up and over his shoulders, somersaulting the momentum into a crouch- the summons would be on him in a split second, he could read the music with his eye as well as the musician with her ears. This time he would not be fast enough. _Still going to try though- _Kakashi Hatake sprang up on his bruised legs as the shadow of the ogres once more came down, _I'm too slow._

To say the technique was far from complete would have been accurate. Having thought of it only seconds before, Sasuke was surprised what he was attempting was actually even occurring. The principal was perfectly sound of course, widening the shape of the chidori and forcing the electrical nature to manifest down the microscopic chakra network that ran throughout the body and through his cellular structure.

_Their cellular structure,_ to be precise. But whereas Sasuke's system was capable of controlling the backflow and keep the current from burning through his body and blood-vessels, the intruder's half-merged cells would have no way to avoid or disperse the chakra's electrical manifestation. All of this was dependent of course on Sasuke being able to precisely channel the current through his network over points where he'd never even attempted to manifest nature manipulated chakra, all the while simultaneously guiding the shape. If he failed to widen or narrow its shape as it traversed his system, the chakra current could likely "jump the tracks" of the chakra network, he would lose control and the jutsu would run roughshod over him as well.

Sasuke's control was less than perfect. In an instant he felt the current burn through his arm, smelled the sizzle of his hair, saw the current arc off his skin and up his shoulder. Sasuke gave a shout of pain as the chakra wobbled and quirked over and throughout his body. It arced off his shoulders, fingertips, and through his feet. It lasted a third of a second, then the electrocution ceased and the genin collapsed to his knees. It had the desired effect however.

With a screech Ukon flung himself from the hostage turned tormentor, his reformed body, charred and burned black, rolling on the ground as if on fire. While Sasuke had been able to reduce the internal electrical storm to a severe shock, Ukon had possessed no method to lessen the potency of the attack and had suffered at the cellular level.

"You bastard! I'll-" Shikamaru was literally on top of him then, springing astride the prone sound-nin while his shadow pounced like a serpent on prey, coiling up and around Ukon's throat to immobilize and throttle the life from him.

"You!" Ukon managed to choke as he resisted the shadow binding. Shikamaru looked into the twisted and blistered face of the fourteen year old and saw the twin for what he was; disoriented, burned, but still an incredibly dangerous psychopath that would kill them as soon as it got its wits together again. _Got to use the time he gave me before he realizes. _Shikamaru squeezed tighter.

There was nothing clean in the killing. Nothing smooth or practiced like how the copy-nin had eliminated the six armed sound-freak. The monster gurgled and thrashed, half-cursed, and struggled to break free. He nearly did. Fighting for his life, and still in the thralls of the curse seal, Ukon possessed a strength few shinobi would have been able to manage unimpaired and fully rested. He was however, hurt, drained from the use of his most potent jutsu, and disoriented; the electricity from the attack had disrupted synapses and he couldn't get all his muscles working simultaneously. Shikamaru felt the thing nearly break free twice, but the distance between their shadows was nil, and Shikamaru was desperate as well.

_Squeeze,squeeze squeeze squeeze._ Shikamaru repeated the mantra over and over in his head as he closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to look into the bulging ones' of his opponent. Repeated it until he could only think that it applied to his eyelids and not to his clenched hands and what he was doing to the person on the ground. The thirteen year old only opened them again when the thrashing stopped and his opponent was still. The monster had vanished, just a pale boy with a swollen tongue protruding from painted lips. The eyes still held traces of something though and Shikamaru fell backwards in his attempt to look away.

_Am I really breathing this hard? _The thought was odd and out of place for the boy with the genius IQ, but then, so was the body on the forest floor. Shikamaru jerked his head away to look over at where he had last seen his classmate. Sasuke hadn't moved, four meters away and still on his knees, shoulders rising and falling at regular intervals, and Shikamaru realized he could hear him breathing as well.

"Hey, you okay?" Shikamaru managed, clearing his throat and trying to swallow at the same time.

Sasuke's head snapped up, and it occurred to Shikamaru that his comrade wasn't wearing his forehead protector.

"What happened to the music?" Sasuke replied as if no question had been asked of him.

Shikamaru caught his breath. For the first time in minutes, he realized the forest had gone deathly silent.

_Oh no._


	11. Chapter 11

Killing was nothing special to Kimimaro. He had been doing it, quite literally, as long as he could remember. First his sibling, (he wasn't sure, but he thought it had been a sister), then at intervals after being released from the cage his clan had kept him in afterword. Sometimes it pleased his lord to see an especially gruesome display of dance of the willows, but his own skill produced neither disgust nor pride within his breast. Just like the ability to walk, the shinobi felt no real connection to it as an accomplishment. It was simply too easy.

The experience he was currently going through with the jinchuriki then was nothing but an exercise in patience. He had fought powerful opponents in the past, even watched kages die; for a teenager, even in a world of blood and murder, his accomplishments rivaled legendary killers in everything except fame. Worry over the speedy recovery of the vessel was the only thing then making him nervous. It was a plausible reassurance. _I am not afraid of this thing._

Naruto was a burning blur of color. The tails, he vaguely realized, were giving him strength. _My strength! This bastard can't ignore me! Damn him, I'm more than he is! More than Sasuke!_

_THAT'S RIGHT. MY STRENGTH._

Naruto wasn't ignoring the Other anymore. Not precisely. Instead, he was pretending it was _his_ voice. The thought twisted his blackened lips into a sneering grin as he lunged again.

The chakra whipped and sped around him, moving not as he did, but winding about as if it had a mind of its own. Kimimaro, for all his dances and speed, had needed his full level one curse mark just to stay ahead of it. He pulsed with the power that was part gift, part curse, but still he was being outmatched. The tall grass was being scythed down and burned black. Kimimaro felt almost like a flower trapped in the eye of a hurricane- safe so long as he kept moving inside its center.

_This is fine. I'm not the one out of control. It is._ Kimimaro danced and the child fumed and bellowed.

Frustration and pain had given way to confusion and rage, and for a moment Naruto paused. _Why can't I hit him? How's he avoiding this! _

_Now._

For some reason the jinchuriki couldn't put his finger on, the moment stretched into an eternity. _It's because I can't move._ The color had left him as well. _And when did I start staring back into the sky?_ Naruto couldn't add up for the life of him how the day had so suddenly reversed itself but he again found himself flat on his back, staring into a set of eyes. _The color's gone. And you can't move._

Time started to crawl forward again and Naruto realized just how terribly things had changed. He was pinned to the ground, a giant marrow bit splitting his ribcage, hammered through the spine and into the scorched earth beneath. The spike was connected to a massive tan arm, the arm to the monstrosity that had suddenly replaced the dancer. _These eyes are yellow- how can these be the same eyes?_

Kimimaro had the child pinned like an insect on display; only his greatest manifestation of bloodline ability had allowed him to penetrate the chakra shroud. His sudden metamorphosis into his complete second stage had been necessary in order to achieve victory, and that had required him to perfectly time the transformation to fit the lull in his opponent's attacks. The few who understood the curse seal would have suggested that such precise control and jutsu manifestation were beyond human ability. But most would agree that it was beyond human ability for the sole survivor of the Kaguya clan to even be moving.

_I have a reason to live, you were just caught in a rage. You're going to die alone and no one will even notice._ The philosophy slipped from between his teeth as a single syllable. "Trash." Amazingly, the subject of his reflection seemed to hear him.

_NOW DO YOU REALIZE BRAT? NOW DO YOU SEE?_

_yes_

_THEN LET GO OF YOUR WEAKNESS. LET GO OF THAT FALSITY, HUMANINTY. STOP PRETENDING TO BE SOMETHING OTHER THAN ME!_

Fear suddenly rushed through Kimimaro. The fear was quickly followed by confusion. "What is this?" the prodigy whispered aloud. The aura was back, but now it was burning the flesh from the dying whelp's body. Instead of struggling to gurgle its last breath- the thing was gulping in air like a newborn. Vaguely, Kimimaro was aware that his marrow spear had been burned away to ash. More prevalent and startling was the awareness that he was, for perhaps the first time in his short life, in mortal danger.

The Kaguya came down with everything he had. Ninety-seven different bones sprang from his shoulders arms, chest, knees and tail. Each was harder than diamond, each was beyond razor sharp. The mutant drove down on his glowing prey with the strength and momentum to smash through six hundred meters of compacted earth. It was not enough.

_Ten hours before_.

_I'm too slow_- Kakashi lunged forward, sure that he was about to be buried under a pile of dead flesh.

Then the music stopped.

_A fucking purple haze? _

Tayuya had no idea where the cloud had come from, its sudden expansion had rolled in forcefully from behind her with momentum, the poison stinging her eyes and driving her mad. The flute was away from her mouth in an instant and she was flinging herself through the fog, blind and unable to breath. Simultaneously she triggered her second state. _Can't take any chances- I'll have to kill them the second I break this cover!_

"Do Leaf Nin just live in the woods!" screamed Sakon as he flung the goatee bearing ninja away from himself with a burst of rage. Sakon felt it then. It was time to get clear of this. The poison mist had enveloped his partner, and she had ceased her tune immediately. Having an open mouth would have been a death sentence and she would have to conserve her air to get clear.

As such, the copy-nin had escaped the doki- just. Almost simultaneously this newest Leaf-nin had made his appearance and Sakon had taken several kunai stab wounds to his vitals before recovering from his surprise and broke his attacker's collar bone. Now the twin was running out of energy and chakra. And patience.

_Where the hell is Ukon?_ The frustration was back, mingling with the pain, and setting off his temper. _If I stay in second state I'll be dead in several minutes-_ then he saw Tayuya break through the cloud. Her horns were out, red hair free, and she was terrible to look upon. It was as if her real personality had clawed its way up to her skin and taken physical form. _That's perfect…_ Without hesitation, Sakon fled into the woods.

Tayuya took in her surroundings with a contemptuous sweep of her eyes. Her flesh golems lay in a heap like discarded toys, there was another wretch of a leaf-nin lying on the ground clutching at a severe break in his skeleton, and no sign of the copy-nin. Or her teammate for that matter. _Goddamnit! How did he let this shit happen!_

Murder. Her primary concern then was not her safety, nor completion of the mission. It was simply to hurt anyone and anything no matter its alliance or relationship to her. A vague wisp of something that might have been a survival instinct whispered about recovering the vessel. That alone helped restore a modicum of control. _I'll grab him as soon as I find the bastard who-_ she was in mid-thought, wiping the down her flute to ensure that not a speck of the mist remained upon it when her opponent made her play.

Shizune had never cared for combat. It was war that had taken her father years before she could remember, lead to her mother's grief and suicide, the loss of an aunt she had barely known, then her last relative and guardian. War destroyed lives. Very nearly had destroyed hers'. That did not mean she was opposed to violence. Not in the slightest.

How many lives would have been spared if a few select individuals had simply been eliminated quickly, quietly, efficiently? War was a horribly inefficient way to end conflict and disagreement. Drawn out combats were disgustingly unnecessary when a simple scratch from the right knife would suffice. For the life of her, Shizune couldn't understand how or why the nations ever allowed such such conflicts to break out. _People just don't understand the true pain of others._ She lived her life to mitigate that pain. Which was really what she was doing now.

The medic was eye to eye with the girl in a split second. She had suspected the young kunoichi would move forward from the mist as she didn't know what lay precisely behind her, and Shizune and repositioned accordingly, moving to the center of the battlefield the second the poison cloud had enfolded her target. As such she had seen her target emerge and waited for the exact moment her defenses were at their lowest. Cleaning her instrument.

The shock was obvious from the widening of her opponent's yellow eyes but Shizune took no satisfaction in it. They were separated by a distance of an arm's length, and Shizune released the strings on the needle thrower.

Tayuya responded instinctively never even aware that her death sentence had been all but signed. She lunged toward her attacker, horns striking and breaking cheekbones, fists clenched and punching into midsection.

"You bitch! I'll kill you! I'll fucking-" In a rage she hadn't even felt the five needles that had just driven venom into her chest.

Shizune felt every bit of the goring, felt something break and bleed in her torso; knew she'd have to do something to stop the assault. The poison simply wasn't going to be fast enough. She was being pitched sideways from the momentum of the headbutt, and she was doubling over from the blows that had collapsed her abdominals. She shot her hand up reflexively, got a hold of the thing's left horn, and jerked the musician's head toward her own. Her fall halted immediately and she looked into the fiend's murderous eyes.

Tayuya stared at her handiwork for a moment and felt superior in every respect. With the mutation having consumed her she could hold the kunoichi's entire body weight with her neck muscles alone. She wasn't even straining as she stood hunched over, head slightly canted with the Leaf shinobi dangling half-horizontal off her horn by a desperate grab. The other arm hung limply, the floppy sleave obscuring her hand and dragging on the ground.

One side of her victims cheek had been completely torn away, exposing gums, broken bone, and teeth. The right eye had immediately been swollen shut from the impact and there was blood in the woman's black hair.

"You look ridiculous bitch."

Tayuya's mocking comment provoked a stream of bloody spittle from between clenched teeh, impacting just under her left eye. Tayuya felt the rage return, her fist come up to smash the enemy into the dirt where she belonged. Then the rage was gone and they both were falling.

Very slowly it seemed. Tayuya locked her gaze on to her enemy's one remaining eye and saw nothing she could recognize in it. Death took its time with her, but only Shizune felt the impact of the ground. Tayuya, the North Gate, was asleep a moment before she collapsed on top of her. The next moment she was dead.

The needle's tip had just scratched her brain stem, but its poison had been enough. Shizune rolled the corpse off of her, vaguely aware that the body was changing as she did so. Changing into a raggedy urchin of a girl, who's rough features would have been softer in a different life. The only blemish on the dead girl's face was a red smear of saliva- which covered the hole where the needle Shizune had spat had gone into her.

Shizune didn't have time to contemplate such tragedy as she clamped her chakra enfused hands to her midsection and cursed herself for her carelessness.

_Why Shizune? Why must medics always avoid becoming injured?_

"Because who will take care of our comrades if I'm hurt?"

All around her she heard the groans of her teammates and comrades.

_Have I failed?_

Sasuke had to help shoulder his companion back toward the ambush site. Shikamaru's leg had a kunai lodged into it, but the Uchiha couldn't seem to remember when he had gotten stabbed. _Was it while I was concentrating on the chidori? It must have been but who-_ and then they stumbled into the forest clearing.

They arrived just as the pile of freakish, mutilated giants disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sasuke realized that still left a lot of bodies on the ground. There was a young girl, and three men (two of whom he recognized as Leaf jonin they had tried to rescue), the six armed mutant, and a young lady in Leaf attire, sitting upright with her back to them and clutching at her face. All around them were weapons; easily hundreds of those unique yellow kunai, and dozens of daggers and throwing stars. Tree limbs had been liberally scattered about as well and the ground was encrusted in splinters and fallen leaves.

Shikamaru grunted through the pain and whispered as quietly as he could manage, "Where's Kakashi?" As if in answer, the teacher's voice responded behind them, "Oh, thank God." Which was quickly followed by a gasped, "Oh no." Before Nara's brain could compile the fact that their teamleader had gotten behind them it finally identified the female sitting in the middle of the forest.

"What's the Fifth's assistant doing out here?" When her head jerked around at the sound of his voice, he realized just why Kakashi had suddenly become off put.


	12. Chapter 12

Shizune's initial self-treatment had only been to repair the severe tears to her digestive track ( stopping her own internal bleeding was of the highest priority), then to cauterize the facial wounds closed and kill potential infection. _Can't spare the chakra for anything further, _Shizune cursed herself inwardly,_ can't let the others pay for my mistake. _Concentration was paramount now, but it didn't help that it felt like half her face had been on fire. That in fact, she was only missing a quarter of her face, did little to reassure her. Having done the minimum to keep herself functional she had swung into action.

She made a quick diagnosis of all present and went to work- making a gesturing motion to Kakashi to do something about Iwashi, then pointing to the boy in blue and gesturing toward the kunai protruding from his wounded friend's leg as instruction. Speaking was simply beyond her limits currently, and hand motions would have to do. _They all have some first aide training- they can handle the basics._

She would be spending most of her time on Genma. Raido was beyond anyone's help.

Sasuke reached for the kunai that had been jammed into his classmate's leg, but Shikamaru waved him away. "Hang on a sec, I got this-" with a sudden yank the chunin had the blade free from the flesh and the red began to spread into the fabric of his pants. A grunt of pain and a second of vertigo later, Shikamaru found himself slipping off his supporter's shoulder and sitting on the ground.

"Troublesome. Okay, go ahead," Shikamaru looked up from the open wound at the Uchiha expectantly only to find that Sasuke's gaze had shifted to the blade the Nara had discarded to the side.

"You stabbed yourself. Why?"

Shikamaru part scoffed/snickered at the question, spoken in a tone not whispered but far from conversational.

"You weren't paying too close attention at the time were you?"

Sasuke was kneeling now, binding the wound shut with a spare leg wrap. He had done something similar once to he remembered idly, _I did it to break free, to protect-_

"That sicko was playing a game, thought he had the perfect hostage when he merged with you," Shikamaru's voice was friendly, but he was keeping the tone low as well; several meters away they could here Iwashi moan in suppressed agony as Kakashi found something else wrong with him.

"I had to buy time for you to pull off your little trick so I played along. Bastard said he'd let me live if I crippled myself. So I-" here he gestured at the bandaged wound as if in explanation, "as slow as I could."

Sasuke finished tying the bandage. _Sinking_ _the blade in himself and taking his time while doing it_… Sasuke remembered the raw need to survive and protect that had forced him to violate his own flesh with steel; and then realized Shikamaru's had done something far beyond it.

"Shikamaru," here Sasuke looked up at his fellow shinobi.

Shikamaru's face had a smile perched as if to say the whole thing had been perfectly reasonable and safe. Even his eyes were cocky.

"You couldn't have known I was capable of what I did back there. I didn't even know."

Shikamaru's smile slipped off, but the eyes remained inscrutable. For the life of him, Sasuke had no idea what he was thinking.

"And when I slipped up initially, you intentionally gave the enemy your back. How'd you know I was going to get back up?"

The smile didn't come back and the classmate's tone seemed almost bored, "Your Sasuke Uchiha. The boy genius. Don't give me that crap about slipping up."

Now Shikamaru's eyes were hard, daring Sasuke to contradict. Sasuke rocked back on his knees. _He can't be serious! Is he making fun me?_

And Shikamaru shot forward, caught Sasuke by the front of his tunic, and jerked him within an inch of his face.

"Let's get something clear," the chunin hissed between clenched teeth, "I don't like you. Like you even less now. But. We. Are. Comrades. Shinobi of the same village. We don't let each other down. _Do you get that?"_

With a final whispered yell Shikamaru pushed away and let go, leaving the chastened Uchiha to rock back onto his posterior, stunned dumb.

And Sasuke did suddenly get it. To Shikamaru, it wasn't even a possibility that he would give up or stop trying. His trust was absolute and total concerning the strength and loyalty of his fellow villagers. That Sasuke could somehow doubt himself (or rather, believe that a fellow Leaf-nin could lose faith in him), was repugnant in the extreme to this individual.

Yet a part of Sasuke could not accept it. _Shikamaru, you need to understand._ "I did let someone down."

This time, it was a whisper.

Shikamaru's eyes filled with pity then, he could disguise it no longer. Luckily, Sasuke was staring down at his hands, as if remembering something they had done. _Maybe I did make a mistake trusting…_

Shikamaru wasn't sure if what he was about to say next was true or not, but to let the Uchiha languish in silence would have been a greater crime then telling him a lie. And the silence was eating away at his assurance.

"No, you made a mistake." Sasuke didn't move, and Shikamaru couldn't see his eyes get wider, so he continued.

"Whatever you did yesterday, you didn't do it on purpose. You wouldn't hurt your own on purpose. It was just a stupid accident. If you don't… pull yourself together and realize that—"

Nearby Shizune gasped from over-exertion, drawing the glances of the genin and chunin, as well as the immediate attention of the Copy-nin who was by her side in an instant, catching her as she pitched forward almost on top of her patient.

She had kept Genma alive, and in the end that was all she could do. Draining his lung of blood, reinflating and stabilizing it- then forcing the tissue to re-nit had taken incredible excursion. She had closed a few of the more serious stab wounds as well, and regenerated a half liter of blood within his veins, but she was no fool; Genma was going to die if he didn't receive a massive transfusion in the next several hours.

Shizune stared at her patient a moment as Kakashi eased her back into a kneeling position. She realized suddenly that she could barely recognize him now: her formerly cocky teammate had been transformed. Trauma's toll had been merciless, and though the jonin was unconscious, his sleep seemed anything but peaceful; skin pale, pulse slow, and his chest rose and fell like every breath was an exertion.

She felt a strange stab of agony in her heart; earlier on the mission she had felt ready to kill the smug and unflappable '_Mr. Cool',_ and now she'd have killed to have him back. This Genma seemed too frail. _Incomplete._

A thin stream of saliva ran out the corner of his mouth where he normally let his senbon hang idly. She didn't bother wiping it way, she didn't have the energy. Wearily raising her head she studied the remaining injured.

Kakashi and the two genin (_no, that Nara's been promoted to chunin_ she mentally corrected) had managed to be a minor assistance after all, securing a bandage around a heavy piece of gauze to the journeyman's leg, (the cloth was already turning red), and immobilizing Iwashi's arm to his side so as to ensure that it wouldn't flop about and aggravate the bones broken in his shoulder and chest. Slowly he moved to join the other senior ninja. Shizune wasn't sure she would be able to do much for him or anyone else now.

_How could I have been so stupid?_

"Easy now, you've done more than enough," the reassuring tone of Hatake did little to alter the sense of guilt washing over her. He still hadn't taken his hands from her shoulders and ordinarily this kind of proximity to the famed master would have made her cheeks flush pink with delight. But as it stood…

"Sss nawh gewd," she managed pathetically through the pain and lack of facial flesh, "lmst tt fv shkra." She felt his hands grip her shoulders a little more tightly in reassurance and understanding, and for a strange moment, it helped just a little.

"We'll need to get back to Konoha for further medical treatment." Shikamaru's analytical tone carried a quality most wouldn't have expected from a thirteen year old- certainty.

" Not a bad idea," managed Tatami through gritted teeth, "Looks like most of the scum's been cleaned up anyway, that last freak will bleed out in another minute or two."

"I wouldn't be so sure," answered Shikamaru, glancing around the debris strewn forest.

Iwashi turned to get a look at the ninja contradicting him as Shikamaru hobbled forward with the support of Sasuke; now the gathering ringed the prone form of Genma.

"Those curse seals their using seem to alter their cellular structure. I wouldn't be surprised if they can suture wounds closed with proper concentration- especially the type that escaped."

Before Iwashi could openly contradict the newly promoted rookie Kakashi spoke up, "He's right, we can't assume that these things will just succumb to their wounds. Orochimaru's jutsus have a tendency to violate natural laws; we're going to have to make sure."

Tatami turned his attention back to Kakashi and Shikamaru immediately realized what the jonin had done, _shifting attention away from the new guy, huh sensei?_

"Make sure? Sir, we're a little beat up to be rushing after their lone survivor, they've killed Namiashi, and Genma will die if we don't get him back."

"Normally, I'd be all for giving chase, avenging our friends, but in our condition… And again, I got him through his kidney and lung before he did this-" here he gestured to the left side of his body, "to me," he wheezed painfully.

Sasuke took a look around the group and noticed for the first time just what kind of state the remaining ninja were in. 'Bad' barely described it. Lady Tsunade's assistant didn't have the chakra left to close a gaping hole in her face, two of her teammates were virtually incapacitated, and the relatively minor wound on Shikamaru had cost him a fair amount of blood and the ability to maneuver. Kakashi seemed all right at first glance, he only had several scratches. Closer inspection revealed however that his clothes were soaked in sweat, his mask clinging against his skin and his breathing was shaky.

_He's been using his sharingan this entire time,_ the boy realized. Unlike a natural Uchiha, constant use of sharingan by an ordinary shinobi drained chakra at an expeditious rate. Sasuke remembered the first time he had seen his teacher utilize his family's art- he hadn't been able to move for days afterward. _How far have you pushed it Kakashi?_ The boy was suddenly aware that he was the least injured man in the unit.

Shikamaru spoke up again, "We can't go back yet anyway, our mission isn't complete yet."

Iwashi's eyebrow shot up, "You were pursuing them?"

"Not precisely," offered Kakashi who was interrupted by the sickly cough of Genma.

"Nwee tt mve nw," managed Shizune who had momentarily mastered her fatigue and was now making it to her feet, breaking free of the jonin's grip.

"Your right," replied Shikamaru, looking down at the two prone Leaf shinobi.

"The three of us should be able to carry Genma back. I suppose will have to leave Raido for now. Kakashi-sensei-" and now Shikamaru stopped leaning on Sasuke and hobbled a little closer to Iwashi, "and Sasuke can stop the last Sound-nin and retrieve Naruto."

Shizune and Iwashi both jerked and Shikamaru picked up on the obvious concern both were suddenly showing. Not for the first time he wondered just what it was about Uzumaki that always got the adults into an agitated state.

"They've kidnapped—oh I see," managed Iwashi in a hushed tone.

"Kekeshee," muttered Shizune in a desperate tone.

"Don't worry," replied Kakashi in a light-hearted fashion that Sasuke wasn't sure he ever liked or believed, "we aren't going to let him get away. Are we Sasuke?"

Sasuke replied with a question: "Where's Pakkun?"

Kakashi's response to that was a masked smile that was quite possibly genuine.

_5 hours later_

Shikamaru sat in the emergency room hallway, no longer needing the support of a crutch or a prop, but unwilling to put any more pressure on his still tender leg. It sounded like Genma was going to make it, though his recovery was going to be a long one. Iwashi's fractures hand been easily handled as well and he was likely to be released in forty-eight hours after monitoring. He hadn't seen Shizune since the four of them had been carried from the main gate to the ER.

The struggle in had been hellish by the end, and Shikamaru had lost count of the number of times he had cursed himself for allowing himself to battle the Sand kunoichi. _Should have let her just crush me with that damn fan, wouldn't have drawn attention to myself, wouldn't be in this mess-_ had been rolling darkly through his mind again when the walls of home had finally broken through the tree tops.

Shortly thereafter his shadow jutsu had faltered and allowed the full weight of Genma to fall on the weak shoulders of the adults holding him upright between them. Shikamaru had felt worse in that moment than any other in his life. _I'm letting everyone down._ But they had been close enough by then for the Hokage's aide to throw a signal flare. Help had followed quickly. Now this.

Waiting for debrief, he felt himself begin to re-analyze the situation for the two hundredth time. _I had no choice to come back. I was hurt, my leg was beyond repair at the time and I couldn't keep up. Besides, Lady Shizune and Raido-sensei would have never been able to carry Gennma back on their own in time._ But doubts were gnawing away at his assurance, had been ever since Sasuke had said his trust was misplaced, and with the suddenness of a lightning strike, all his certainty collapsed into dispair.

Shikamaru felt the doubts become realization, and the realization suddenly became shame. _I messed up. There were other options then stabbing myself. What if Sasuke hadn't…_ _I didn't complete the mission. Naruto, and Kakashi and Sasuke are still out there…_

"Shikamaru!" And then the shame changed to utter agony.

Ino was a wreck even before she crashed into him, her eyes were practically swollen shut from crying, and he knew that he had only been adding to her misery. _Sakura's dead, probably killed by Sasuke, and then I get rushed into the ER while on a mission with him…_ He looked away as she crushed her face into _this goddamn vest,_ and began weeping uncontrollably. _Is there anything I don't ruin?…_

"See Ino, I told you he was fine. Ple-pleas-e stop crying now."

Choji stood breathless in the hall from running to catch up, meanwhile Ino refused to stop crying. Shikamaru couldn't seem to pry her off his vest and he hated the fact that she was making him feel like crying as well.

_Have to get out of here_

"We've been worried since we found out you were deployed! Then we heard that the team had come back in injured and-"

Shikamaru wasn't listening to Choji's explanation. He already knew what they must have gone through.

_Can't take this anymore-_

With surprisingly little effort he hid his guilt behind a mask of disgust and stood up, pulled away from the sobbing girl, staggered on his still tender leg, shoved Choji when he didn't move fast enough out of his way- and walked straight into his father.

_This is too troublesome._

"Dad, I don't like this job."

"I don't either."

"I had to kill someone today."

"Me too."

Shikamaru's anger was starting to break lose.

"People got hurt, then I compromised the mission. I gambled because I couldn't think fast enough! And because of that I wasn't able to see it through!"

And to his surprise, his father was getting angry as well. "Is that it? You think you're special? You think you're the only one who have the right to feel sorry for yourself! You think you can give up? Because it's hard to deal with?"

And now Shikamaru was crying, _Dad, just let me by, PLEASE…_

"Your teammates came here because they were worried about you. Your friends came here because—"

And now Shikamaru did speak, "Dad, please!"

His face was hard, and he leaned down toward his son, "Never walk away from your friends, son. You don't know how important they are until you lose them." And then a mercy, "We'll talk more later," with that, the head of the Nara Clan turned away from his heir and strode out.

And Shikamaru stood and wept with his teammates. Ino had wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face into his back, her tears were a mixture of grief, fear, and relief. Choji had his face hidden in his hands and was sobbing quietly from confusion. He couldn't figure out why his friend had shoved him, nor why Ino couldn't be consoled. Shikamaru wept because he now knew how hard it was to protect them.

And because he knew what would happen if he didn't.

_From now on, I can't be making such stupid mistakes._


	13. Chapter 13

Sakon was going to die.

Everyone was supposed to die anyway, but Sakon knew different. He knew there were ways around it, jutsus mainly, and that individuals could (and did) use them. And Sakon wanted to be one of those individuals. He didn't want to die. Do anything not to, really. The matter was entirely out of his hands now however. Now they were in the small shaky ones that were pulling the wires taught into his flesh, forcing his back against the rough bark of the tree. The loyalty he owed, never mind the deaths he was responsible for, was a mandate for execution on most of the continent. What he had done in the last several months on top of that to his captor's village and friends wasn't likely to make them show leniency.

Sakon begged anyway.

"I have no choice! Since we were children! Do you know what they did to us? It eats at you! Before you know it, you like it- you're getting off on it! There's no other way to be! And there's more! Please, I'll share it with you! You're to be our leader, forget the others just please let me go- don't you want rev-"

The wires pulled tight around his throat, cutting the plea into a gurgle. The child on the other end felt suddenly capable of murder. Then disgust nearly overpowered him.

They had caught the last one resting behind a tree, heading apparently straight back to the Land of Sound. He had stopped briefly to examine something, and that brief respite had just turned fatal. As Kakashi had given the signal to strike however, the Sound-nin had felt the trap springing shut. He had sprinted a kilometer within fifteen seconds, and the Leaf had run him down like an animal.

"Now, Sasuke!" Kakashi had cried as he fell behind the chase, stamina finally giving out. Sasuke had pulled tight on the wires buried just underneath the topsoil, emplaced by the copy-nin minutes before the chase, and a net of biting steel had encircled the stunned mutant. Even then Sakon had tried to dodge, perhaps he would have even been successful had the mutation of the sharingan not allowed the Uchiha to twist the wires with preternatural accuracy.

Now the twin played his final card. "That runt you were chasing is going berserk," he managed to gurgle out. "He's already killed,_gurgle,_ he'll do it again. _gasf._ If he gets you, you won't stand_urgle_chance." Then with a final effort, "hates you." With a snarl he triggered the curse seal. Low on chakra, he knew he was gambling what could be the final seconds of his life, _but the vessel might freeze again, and the Copy-nin-_

There was a blaze of light, a sudden hand thrust, and Sakon lost the ability to trigger his curse seal. _There's a hand inside my chest. Ukon? Is that you?_

Someone was asking him a question in a shaky voice, but Sakon could only concentrate on the strange warm feeling centered in his torso where his heart once was.

_Haven't been warm there in years._

_10 hours later_

Kankuro stared. And kept staring. He had seen something similar once. His father had called it a test. A lot of people had died during that test and he hadn't been able to eat for days. He turned to look at Temari.

"Kankuro, close your goddamn mouth before a bird fly's into it," his sister whispered at him desperately. _Oh great, she's scared too,_ stuttered the youth's mind as he locked his gaping mouth shut. He slowly turned his head to stare at his brother. He couldn't see his eyes, and Kankuro wasn't sure he wanted to.

_Man, the Leaf is really in trouble if they asked us to help out with this…_ Kankuro could think of no other time in recorded history where one village had asked another to help it recapture a rogue jinchuriki. _Of course, until now, we didn't know that's what we were doing…_ The Leaf had miscalculated the puppeteer figured. _They didn't think he'd go off like this._

Kankuro's mind whirled with possibilities. The message had said that the genin Uzumaki Naruto had given chase after some dangerous henchmen of Orochimaru's, they had asked for any reinforcements available. _They might have well have admitted weakness,_ and Kankuro had chuckled at the accuracy of his sister's assessment. "But it's a clever offer, letting us get even with the Sound after what they did to us," his sister's words were filled with an unsatisfied anger that he felt in his own stomach as well.

_I don't care how terrible a parent he was, you just don't kill our kage and walk away free from Suna._

This was going to be payback. Or so he and Temari had thought. And then this discovery.

The thing was worse than the transformation his brother had gone through all those years back. Blood-red chakra coated this host, four tails fanned out like flames, and its mouth crunched hungrily on the numerous bones of its devoured tormentor.

They had arrived just as the marrow encrusted abomination had pinned the glowing child to the field's floor. The initial shock of the mission to help recover Uzumaki Naruto, the boy who had beaten the Sand's own tailed beast, had been supplanted by the sudden discovery that the very same was a monster as well. Sprawled flat amongst the tree line, it had taken a second or two for the elder children to crawl back to the youngest. Gaara had ridden out the blast, a wall of sand between him and it. Sensibly however, the boy had still gotten low amongst the foliage and out of sight of the awakened beast. Kankuro voiced the only logical conclusion his addled mind could come to. "Let's get out of here."

The Nine Tails was in control. Partially. The emotion, the rage was loose, and the fox knew one thing- _IF I CAN JUST PUSH THE WHELP A LITTLE MORE… _In its cage it snarled, just outside its reach, a scared and angry child wept.

"No," the statement from Gaara contained no threat as it would have in the past. Nor was it grossly unbalanced. The tone actually sounded incredibly reasonable. Had Temari not been staring into a massive crater which currently held an energy laden time bomb shaped like a creature of nightmare, she might have entertained listening to it.

"Gaara," she hissed back through clenched teeth, "whatever help we might have been before this is meaningless now," she chanced a glance away from the beast to look at her youngest sibling. Gaara didn't take his eyes off the spectacle for an instant. Temari could see the passivity present across his cheeks, the new neutrality in his eyes. _Violence like this use to ignite bloodlust… What's going on?_ She shook the curiosity away in an instant, quickly falling back to the more practical fear. _If we don't get out of here…_

Then Gaara did the unthinkable. He stood up. Forgetting her earlier reprimand, the girl's jaw dropped open.

"He needs our help. Something has gone wrong. I'm going to help him." And Gaara began to act, sprinting further down the wood line until he was several hundred meters separate from his family.

Temari could only watch in amazement. _He still is crazy! _"Gaara, wait! Gaara-" her brother managed to whisper, but the boy was gone, disappearing into the woods as if stealth was second nature to him.

Kankuro locked eyes with his remaining sibling. "What's he thinking!" Temari wasn't sure. She could analyze tactics, enemy capability, and strategize. _Why can't I figure this out?_ And then she remembered. She remembered leaving her little brother as he became subsumed into the Shukaku demon. And then a little boy from an enemy nation had saved him.

Gaara shot the sand like a spear from his gourd, aiming for the monstrosity's eyes. _I need to buy time, otherwise the plan won't work._ _If it wanders off into the forest we could lose the terrain advantage, and besides…_

Striking into the beast's face the sand seemed almost sentient, scattering and buzzing like bees around its head, the possessed let out a bark of surprise and began to shake and growl like a dog frustrated by insects. Gaara was moving, deeper into the forest, away from his brother and sister.

_Can't let it know I'm here. If its anything at all like the One tail and it has partial control.…_

Gaara could only speculate about the chakra level, but he knew his own monster possessed an enormous quantity the equal of the strongest kages. In his beast's true form he could spit chakra bullets capable of rearranging the landscape. _What can four tails do?_

With a thought Gaara collapsed the swarm of sand- a muzzle of compressing matter smashed the Fox's snarling mouth closed. Then the creature tore through it. Gaara winced at the chakra disruption, accepted the loss of control and rolled with it. The Fox spun about and swept the surrounding creator with its gaze. _It's looking for me. Does he remember?_ Gaara never even flinched. The beast screamed its frustration out as a challenge. Within he could feel Shukaku's desire to respond. Gaara suppressed it. Instead, _he_ struck out.

The sand beat the beast, slapped at it. Gaara rained in the blows in in two hit combinations, one ball the size of a small boulder smashing its body sideways while the other crashed into the back of its skull. The force of the blows was enough to level buildings, the density compressed to the point of a heavy metal. The four tailed form was kicked sideways, its head forced down, but the One Tail's host was under no illusions. At best he was disorienting it. At worst, he was pissing it off.

_Just so long as it doesn't notice._

The four tails reared its head up to roar out its fury. And then it noticed. Gaara's third eye stared straight into the white hot orbs of madness and pain, and he felt something alien within himself snicker in its sleep.

The chakra blast skyward ignited the air into a halo of reds and whites. The Fourth Kazekage's son felt his brain catch fire in the afterimage, as if he had suddenly looked into the sun from only a hundred feet away, and his sand rushed back to him, away from the beast to protect him from a blast that wasn't directed at him. For the longest time Gaara had wondered what pain was. He had thought he had figured it out a month ago. But this was a different kind all together. The sand found him then and Gaara leaned into it, its embrace tender as a mother. _Not ready yet, need more time._ The Fox roared in triumph.

It was leaving now, climbing out of the crater, and Temari knew that she couldn't let it leave. She glanced at Kankuro who glanced back at her. His face was emotionless, but she could read his eyes, had been doing it since he was two. He didn't want to risk his neck over the Land of Fire's mistakes. But if his sister went out there, he'd back her with his own life. And Temari couldn't let this thing walk off.

_Whatever Gaara's planning its taking time to prepare, probably longer now do to the chakra blast blinding him. If we don't buy time for him to finish…_

It would have been so easy to let the thing just wander off now. _But what would happen to the balance?_

Being a kage's daughter meant she had special knowledge as well as certain responsibilities. A jinchuriki on the loose could spell disaster in multiple areas of foreign relations, international disasters, and in the worst case scenario, even another war. It wasn't even worth considering what would happen if the Cloud or the Mist got their hands on the legendary Nine Tails. She quietly ignored the fact that she might actually owe the host something as well.

Now Temari surprised even herself. Without fear she broke the tree line cover. She could hear Kankuro shifting positions to find a new location from which to support. Almost lackadaisically she drew the fan from its place secured against her back. She smiled idly then, realizing she had almost no plan of action. But that was just her style. _The plan will come to me as I go. It always does._

Confidence was her method, almost to the point of arrogance. But now it was more than just a character trait. Today it was a shield against the terror she was about to go against. Arrogance had become armor. _Don't think of it as a stronger version of the monster inside your baby brother._ _Think of it as just another large desert predator._

Oddly, she could deal with that. She was three hundred meters away when the Gila Lizard she had decided it was noticed her. If it had been a Gila Lizard, she would have killed it. The sheer force of the summon's wind sickle technique sheered into it, kicked it four meters off the ground, and mowed down the few remaining blades of grass before moving the adjacent tree line another hundred meters back.

And slowly, very slowly, the four tails turned around to see what could have possibly been so stupid as to bother it. Kamatari had already fled and Temari felt very, very alone and exposed.

The blood-beast identified her, and for all the world those two white orbs might have been the whole existence, the eyes of the jinchuriki boring into her from what now seemed to be an extraordinarily small gap of three hundred meters. She was almost too stunned by their emptiness to notice that the beast had gone perfectly still.

_That's funny, its arms are in the ground-_

Temari felt the vibration through her feet and leapt a split second before the things massive claws came shooting from underneath the surface like vile flaming sandworms. Fear burned in Temari's veins as she swung her fan, the newly summoned wind catapulting her back toward the tree line, away from the grasping appendages. In less than a second she was another three hundred meters away, the creatures rage over its prey escaping taking the form of a roar that rent air and stung flesh.

Temari had loved learning wind jutsu. It was a rare talent, even in a land named for the element, its offensive capability superior to most other techniques due to the distance from which an attack could be made without losing any of its potency. She had used it to move herself and brothers here so quickly, riding the iron fan over the Land of Rivers before dropping back to the less strenuous (though much slower) "tree-hopping" that the Land of Fire used as its practical shinobi highway. Now the proud girl used her jutsu in a way she never had truly imagined- she fled upon it.

_One more push-_ she flung half her remaining chakra into the next swing, still airborne she jounced through the air, both attacking and fleeing at the same time. The beast took the slice of wind on its overextended arms, but much to the kunoichi's dismay, they weren't scythed down like the trees she had practiced upon.

How Kankuro had seen the second spear of red coming her way she couldn't even guess, one moment she was safe, the next, an entirely new set of red claws were bearing down on her. The fact that she was upside down and moving along a different trajectory was only noted as an afterthought. _It's not going to be good enough…_ Temari would have squeezed her eyes shut if she could have had a moment's more concentration. And then she was lying in a heap next to her brother, the puppet "Black Ant" being rent and torn apart in her place.

"It's hard enough pulling a puppet substitution on myself at close range. God Tem, lose some weight." Kankuro was breathing hard, bent double, hands braced on his thighs. From the corner of her eyes she could see his fingers twitching uncontrollably from overuse, he had broken cover to reach her with his chakra strings, and even then she couldn't imagine where he had found the strength to pull her away from the beast's second attack.

"Don't look so surprised, '_huff'_, you're '_uf'_ not (oh man) _ugh,_ only one who's '_huff'_ improved," Kankuro managed to pull himself upright, pride overriding fatigue for the moment. Temari shook the shock of survival off her features as well, sat up, and got to her feet as well. The iron fan was gripped in her hands, opened wide and readied, set to the side, partly shielding her younger brother. The two siblings stared at the monster, which, in the matter of a minute had already pushed them to the edge of their abilities.

It was coiling up, almost like a cat, its borrowing claws having been retracted, restoring some level of proportion to its abominable form.

"It's getting ready to pounce!" Kankuro's growled warning was unnecessary, Temari had it figured a moment before, but her sharp mind couldn't see a way out of this dilemma. She was almost out of chakra; Kankuro had just used an incredible amount of stamina, and was armed only with a puppet. _Whatever happens, don't cry…_

The fox sprang. And the earth suddenly chased after it.


	14. Chapter 14

Lashing against its bonds the four-tailed fox ripped the earth into great chunks, tossing the broken pieces of the inclosing sphere into the ozone and scattering the sand shackles as if the chakra bonds weren't even present. And still the sand poured up from the crater, as if a geyser of grit were spewing forth from the earth.

Kankuro stared up in awe. _I guess I'm not the only one who's been practicing either. When did he learn how to do this?_ The creature was rising like a star, the sand shooting up, trying to form a shell and crush in on the creature. Temari felt fresh shock at the display. The would be predator was rising and howling hundreds of meters into the air, the sand clawing and crushing around it, grasping at its appendages and tails, forming multiple leashes around its throat and forcing its head skyward.

The creature broke its leashes and another set of sand shackles, but the shell was taking form, collapsing in and pouring down from all directions. _He's made more sand beneath us from the soil! Just how much…_ Kankuro's mind blanked as a miniature moon with a monster at its center took shape. _No, not a moon, it's more like…_

Gaara struggled to close his hand. _Make a fist and you wall it off. You protect them._ But it was very difficult. From the tree top where he had repositioned he could see it. It roared and squirmed, kept trying to summon chakra bubbles into a collective sphere of its own, and the boy knew he must never allow that. The sand flowed in, grasping at its tails, pulling them away from the coalescing chakra allowing it to again destabilize. _This is growing more difficult…_

Gaara had learned the futility of trying to bite his lip in frustration; it remained an itch he would never be able to scratch. Instead his features remained stoic and set, having seen so few smiles in his life he bore his expressionlessness as one more scar from childhood. Inside the boy there was turmoil his stillness belied. _What is this? It's not madness. Is this fear? But not for myself?_

He had over eight hundred cubic meters of sand to work with, nearly half that was made of the strongest minerals he could pull from the soil. His ultimate defense had become a cage. _I have but to close it. Naruto, what has happened?_

The Fox fought against its bonds, its strength was truly monstrous, and Gaara struggled. _It's like trying to crush a ball bearing._ Gaara felt the fear as his fingers struggled with the empty air. _What happens to them if I fail?_

The sand had stopped rushing out of the ground and the enormous clump of silt and pulverized stone hung in the sky in defiance of the natural law. That didn't worry Temari in the slightest. What worried her was what would happen if it fell.

She chanced a glance at her brother, saw him rub his chin instinctively, smearing the makeup there. _He's really shook up to do something like that. _Kankuro had always prided himself on being a professional at puppeteering (Temari had often teased that meant he was always serious about being a professional ass), to even smudge his makeup unintentionally was a gross faux pas. He glanced at her just as she turned her head back to the woods, searching for the boy responsible.

"You think he's going to be able to pull this off?" Temari didn't look back at her brother. Nor did she answer. _Come on Gaara…_ Above them, the shape of the sphere became more artistic, a form was taking shape.

He could see his father's disapproving stare. See the distance between himself and his brother and sister. The little girl who had called him a monster. But most of all he could see the smile on the stranger's face as he talked about friendship and sacrifice. Gaara's fingers inched closer as the sweat turned his clothes into dead weight.

_Why go so far for them? _

Gaara could see its face still, felt it trying to burrow its claws out of the prison, shoot them toward the ground. The space left open between his digits had room enough only for a marble. It was enough space for the four tails to slip through his fingers.

The sand sphere was cracking. Red light poured out from within and a fine shower of sand was descending upon the scarred field. Very shortly the cruelty of the beast was about to be revisited on the plain, and Temari knew its fury would target them alone. She and Kankuro were moving now, speeding back to the tree line. _We can still get clear, get Gaara, get time for him to try again…_ The Fox's muffled roar of triumph made a mockery of hope.

Gaara felt the knuckle begin to fracture and splinter in his fingers, felt the bone fragments slip into the space of the joints and grind together. He realized he could go no further. It was going to get loose and kill his family.

_I love them._

Gaara closed his fist.

_10 hours before_

Sasuke threw the wires down from his sweat drenched hands. He couldn't see the victim now, obscured by the executioner who stood one hand braced against the tree, the other deep inside the deceased. Kakashi's shoulders moved up and down in heavy labored breaths, whole form shaking from the exertion to catch up and kill. He had discarded his flak vest. _The weight got to be too much for him?_

"I'm through."

Those were the last words Sasuke had expected.

"Wait, you can't be through. Just-"

Kakashi lurched to his right and the corpse slipped to the left, both hit the ground and Sasuke sprinted to the platoon leader's side. The fear was back, and Sasuke hated the adult for it. _Damn you! Get up!_ Kakashi rolled over, struggled to push himself into a sitting position. "You all right Sasuke?"

Sasuke stared daggers at his superior, eyes filling with rage. _Don't act like that. Don't act like you care!_

"How can I be okay? Huh! Did it ever occur to you that I haven't been okay for a long time? I DON'T NEED THIS!"

The boy slid to his knees again for what seemed the hundredth time that day, head hanging down in abject dismay. Kakashi watched him with his own eye. Slowly, gently, he placed his blood stained right hand on the Uchiha's shoulder.

"Sasuke,"

"What?"

"Would you have done it? Would you have gone with him to gain more strength? To get revenge?"

_I don't want to watch those I love die in front of me again._

_What did brother sacrifice to become what he is?_

The answer was stark. _Everything._

_And I might have given the same thing._

"No," Sasuke looked up at his teacher. "Not in a thousand years."

His teacher smiled through his mask, an honest, innocent, trusting smile. He leaned back against the tree he had just killed a fourteen year old against. "Go get Naruto for us."

_9 hours later_

Kankuro felt like a toddler again he was so giddy. Standing on the treetops next to his sister and baby brother, looking at an enormous floating sand sculpture of a blood crazed tanuki. _Like a parade they'd have in one of those dopey Fire Nation cities, we'd just need cotton candy and some shinobi with some other balloons and we could march down their main street!_

He grinned down at his brother who looked back emotionlessly with wide raccoon eyes. "Nice hat you put on the Shukaku, Gaara."

"It just sort of happened," responded his brother without emotion and gazed back at his jutsu. Temari nodded her approval from beside them both. "Gaara, that's just amazing." The words were laden with pride and appreciation, and Gaara felt something stir within his heart. _Is this a connection?_

Gaara turned to look at his sister's smiling face as she gazed upon the sand prison. "I wasn't sure it was going to work."

The eldest turned to face both her brothers. "All right," her face had gone as serious as the youngest now, "then why did you even try."

"I owe him a debt."

"Kind of a funny way to pay it back." The grin in Kankuro's voice was what made him the ass he was, but the point was valid. Gaara didn't know quite how to respond so he looked back at the prison. "No, I still haven't paid him back yet."

The whole conversation was starting to make Temari uncomfortable, which was unusual for the girl. She decided to move onto more constructive matters.

"Gaara, how long can you maintain the jutsu?"

"I wonder what happened to him. Do you think he lost someone he cared about? Did he think he was alone again?" Gaara looked at his sister. _Is that what you were Gaara? Did we leave you alone? _

"I wish I could see his eyes. His real ones. Then I might be able to know. I might be able to…"

"Gaara, how long?"

"The jutsu was strictly in its formation. No further chakra is needed to sustain it, just open and move it."

Temari gave a sigh of relief. _Thank God. If that thing got loose somehow without us being prepared…_

"Do you think his village will help him?" the youngest asked the oldest.

"I hope so, Gaara."

"So we're really taking it back to the Leaf?" The grin was back on the middle child's face as well as in his voice.

"Of course we are," responded Temari, slight grin in her own, "they are after all our trusted allies again."

"Yeah, yeah, I guess," sighed the puppeteer, "it's just, you, that's the _Nine-fucking-Tails _we just caught here!"

Both the elder teenagers chuckled. The cockiness had returned now that the danger had past.

"No, it's not."

Both teenagers stopped laughing. Since that day, this was the first time Gaara's tone carried that old hint of threat that had once marked his every sentence. It was muted, but it was present. _Wait, no, not threat, just anger._

"That is Naruto Uzumaki. My friend."

"Sorry Gaara."

And they both meant it, from the bottom of their hearts. Gaara nodded once, accepting their apology just as honestly and completely as it had been given.

"All right let's get him back home," Kankuro began, "I'm sure they're all concerned about-"

The blast snapped half the forest down, tossed the siblings from the heights, and the shadow of a gigantic monster blotted out the sun. Fear warred with shock for dominant emotion as they fell, but of the three, only Gaara saw it clearly, and then only for an instant.

_Eight tails._

Then it was gone, the light returned, and Gaara had too much else to worry about.


	15. Chapter 15

_I don't want to watch those I love die in front of me again._

_What did brother sacrifice to become what he is?_

The answer was stark. _Everything._

_And I might have given the same thing._

Which raised another question: where did you go when you have nothing? What were you if not just a bottomless pit, trying to fill yourself with loss after loss.

Whether he had intended to or not, while testing his limits he had destroyed the same thing his brother had. His family.

_Don't walk your brother's path._

_Mom and Dad didn't deserve to die. Neither did she. But I can't make it up by taking something away. All I wanted to do was to right that. But it's becoming something else. _The well had been poisoned with impatience, anger, and hate.

_Have I done the same thing to Naruto?_

Sasuke had left his master now some eight hours prior, and still he had yet to catch up to his missing friend. Meanwhile his mind raced from thoughts of his past merging into his present, out toward his future, than back again. Kakashi had made it a point while struggling with the chakra exhaustion to explain that as soon as it was safe for him to try, he'd summon Pakkun and send a message for further reinforcements. "But Sasuke, you have to stop Naruto before he gets across the border." That was a point the Copy-nin had been adamant on.

"If he makes it past the river, turn back, we don't know what Orochimaru has guarding his borders and you going in alone is likely to play right into his hands."

"What about Naruto then," Sasuke had asked as he had begun to wind up his wires, wiping them clean of the boy's blood by passing the metal under the heel of his sandal as he spooled.

Kakashi hadn't answered, just repeated, "Go get Naruto for us." Being relatively good with geography, he knew enough to figure Naruto was still headed toward the Land of Sound. _Why though?_ The Four Shinobi from that dark country that he had set off after where behind him. _Are there still more Naruto's chasing?_ It seemed unlikely, Kakashi had pointed out after the first encounter that the Sound-nin were first encountered as some kind of four-man bodyguard for the Snake-nin. They had now all been accounted for. Sasuke silently considered another possibility, _Could he be running now just to get away?_

Revenge had an appeal, but what came after? _What comes after you get your revenge? _There was something else Kakashi had said. Just as he had been about to spring up into the forest branches, Hatake had stopped him once more with a warning.

"Sasuke, Naruto, he's-" then changing tact, "the reason we caught up so quickly to this last one," Kakashi hadn't even gestured to Sakon's corpse, he didn't need to, "he stopped to examine the body of his other teammate. I saw it as I was emplacing your wires."

A pause and then, "Be very careful when you catch up to Naruto."

_What had he meant by that? _Before he could consider it further he found himself dodging missile-like tree trunks as half a forest was hurled his way. _Just great, as if I didn't have enough to worry about right now as is!_

Gaara was an exceptional child, born to an exceptional family. As such, there had always been high expectations. These expectations varied from family member to family member, but today Gaara's had been extremely stringent for himself. _I will not lose my family. I will save my friend._ It had almost worked.

That they were all still alive, most would have considered a miracle. The sheer force of the shockwave as the Shukaku Shield shattered would have pulverized most of the bones in their body if it had been any closer to the siblings. As it was it had only broken the majority. Then had come the fall, and Gaara had struggled to make it work. Swatting timber and debris left and right, his sand shield had gone into overdrive, the gourd itself disintegrating into free particles in order to prevent a mid-air collision between the falling children and a timber fusillade. Gaara had snatched out then, using the sand to push his brother and sister within arm's reach of his own decent, then covered them all in a paper thin shell of mineral rich earth.

Gaara ground teeth as he tried to slow their decent, every tree trunk and branch slamming them about inside their flimsy craft. For all the world they could have been on a lifeboat in the middle of a hurricane. Gaara suspected that they stood about the same chance of survival. Then they were on the ground and the storm had stopped. Gaara fought a very desperate battle then- for the first time in his life he struggled not to hyperventilate.

_It was huge. It had eight tails._ _Are they all right?_ Fear was choking him, and it seemed as if the infinite darkness inside his makeshift life raft was crushing in on his chest.

The moans to his left and right caused a sudden relief lifted the weight of the darkness-_Alive! They're-_

Gaara tried to lift his arms to direct the sand lid to lift, only to find them tightly entwined with something on both sides. Gaara let go of the warm 'somethings' and placed his hands on the roof of the sand shield, feeling out through the dirt with chakra. Thankfully, it seemed they had managed to avoid the majority of the forest collapsing on top of them. They weren't out from under the woods yet however.

_Concentrate. Conserve. _With an effort brought on by the strain of containing the four-tailed fox and surviving the battering fall, Gaara reached out to the scattered granules, coaxing them back into the area, feeling his immediate surrounding with them. They only confirmed what his addled mind had no reason to believe. _It's gone. How is that possible?_

Yet a fact like that was too big to hide. His sand moved in from a kilometer around and found not a whisp of the potent chakra that had manifested so suddenly and in such a large quantity. Wherever it had gone, it certainly wasn't anywhere nearby. Certain that they were safe, Gaara released his jutsu.

With a sigh, he let his lifeforce seep out of the shell and the sand rained down on the prone family in a slow shower of entropy. Though it was getting close to evening, the light was almost blinding coming free from the total dark the shield had created, and Gaara sat up groggily. The blast had deforested the area; in a strange way this made Gaara feel more at home. His eyes however were not for the scenery. Casting his gaze quickly left and right he reassured himself of his family's real presence.

They were worse than him, badly bedraggled, limbs set at funny angles, it struck the young boy that it looked like Kankuro's room after a temper tantrum left broken marionettes on the floor. Tears stung his eyes and he pulled his shaking knees to his chest, wrapping them with his fractured arms.

_Pain of the heart._ His gift it seemed had protected him more fully from the fall then he had been able to guard his siblings. Gaara felt something bitter and crushing that he didn't know was called guilt. The boy called his remaining sand, and then without lifting a finger, he wrapped his family with it. He did it as gently as he could, splinting their injuries and staunching their wounds more effectively than any basic first aid. Never-the-less, even this slight movement aggravated their trauma induced slumbers.

"Gaara," whispered his sister, and the boy turned his tear streaked face to look at her.

"I am sorry." Somehow the second apology he had made in his life hurt worse than the first. This puzzled Gaara through the pain, _apologies should make you feel better._

Through her bruised and bleeding face his sister smiled. "It's all right, you didn't squeeze my hand nearly as hard as I was squeezing yours." Then she was unconscious again. Gaara was so stunned by the comment he stopped crying. _She doesn't blame me? _

Gaara glanced over at his comatose brother, wrapped in the sand so snuggly he looked like an overgrown child stuffed in a sleeping bag with only his face exposed. Getting to his feet without using his broken arms, the boy stood up and peered over his older brother.

Kankoru's pallor was waxy, but his face had a peaceful expression. Gaara couldn't even begin to fathom why. For no reason in particular then, Gaara cast his gaze skyward toward the new, northern edge of the forest, several kilometers distant. It seemed as if a speck of orange was standing on the tree tops, but Gaara couldn't be sure. Then his eyes lost sight of it. It was two more hours before Sasuke Uchiha arrived, and it was almost dark.

_An hour past dark_

"Disappointed? That's all you have to say to me you bastard?!" Naruto wasn't sure who he was yelling at. He kept thinking it was his father, only to keep remembering he didn't know who that was. _Did I have a conversation with someone?_ He had stopped running again, now he was walking slowly along the forest floor. He had lost one of his sandals somehow, and his clothes looked like he had been mauled, but he couldn't find or feel a scratch on himself. Worse yet, it had become dark, and with no moon, it was hard to find his way along the path.

He didn't feel tired though. Instead he felt energized, buzzed, like he had just woken up from a long nap and drunk a full two liters of cola. The boy's problems did not relate to his physical condition.

_He stabbed me, then I started talking to the Fox, and now I'm here. That doesn't make any sense!_

Naruto struggled to find answers.

"Fox! Hey Fox!" he cried out suddenly. Anyone would be preferable to talk to right now rather than walking alone in the dark. No answer came.

"He had said there wasn't much time. That he was disappointed."

And now he remembered. At least a small piece at least. Losing control. Choking on fear, hate, and blood. Agreeing with the Fox. _I was tearing the seal off the door- then..._

And Naruto remembered. Someone else had been with him in the cellars with the Nine Tails. Someone strong whom the Nine Tails hated. _WHO I HATE. _The cause of all his problems.

"The 4th Hokage."

_The boy can barely reach the seal on the door, it is placed so high and he is so short. He can't think or reason for himself anymore, it's as though he is being led by someone else's will, but he is okay with that. What he needs is a fire. Something to burn it all away. Burn away his mistakes, his responsibilities, his memories of her. His teacher's kind words. His fingers brush the paper, and what he really wants is to burn away the one who caused it all. The one he respected and envied. The one who never recognized him. His fingers grip the paper by the edges, it feels so loose, like it might just fall off by itself. Someone is encouraging him but that doesn't matter. What matters is that the pain stops. He feels like he is going to burn to death inside his own body. _

_Then it's cold again. And he can here himself think. There's another person here who he doesn't want to look in the eyes._

The boy struggled with his memories in the dark. _I don't want to think about this._ And so he doesn't. _I hate all of them! _

The boy didn't want to feel guilt, or shame, or fear anymore. His whole life he had fought against those, rebelled against the logic that he should become what others thought he was. But he had seen the rooftop of the hospital. He could feel their eyes and hear the whispering return. And then Iruka had died. _Good._

"Good." He whispered the word, as if he was trying it out. When no one replied, he tried it a bit louder. "Good. Good. GOOD! I never liked him! I'm glad he died! How could I?!.." and Naruto was choking on his own words now, crawling alone in the darkness.

_I never had a father._

The Fox could feel the seal's reinforcement, it seemed almost more solid than it had been before, and the Fox raged against its bars. _DAMN YOU FOURTH. AFTER ALL THAT PAIN AND SUFFERING YOUR SON JUST WENT THROUGH! THE SEAL ALMOST GAVE UNDER HIS OWN VOLITION! I WAS SO CLOSE TO FREEDOM! NOW I'LL HAVE TO WORK HIM UP AGAIN…_

The Nine Tails howled a hellish yowel, part laughter, part rage. _YOU ONLY DELAYED THE INEVITABLE MINATO_. _WHAT A WASTE…_


	16. Chapter 16

_The Middle at the End_

The collision of chidori and rasengan catapulted the children apart, skipped them like stones across the river, and left them struggling to find equilibrium on the water's surface. _If I lose consciousness, I'll drown, _realized Sasuke in a moment of clarity. Even going under for a moment might turn fatal, if he took a breath while going under the struggle for air might give his opponent the opening to finish him. He was lying on the water, his chakra control now adept enough to project a steady stream from almost any point in his network, it felt almost like being on a wet pavement. _Get to your feet! Conserve the chakra!_ Sasuke sprang up into a crouch, now only using the balls of his feet and fingertips to stay out of the liquid. _Naruto can afford to use his chakra like that, but he'll trounce me in endurance._

There was no doubt in his mind now, his friend was trying to kill him. Even with the momentum of the waterfall behind him, Sasuke's forward inertia had been matched by his teammate who had had a much shorter distance to start his sprint across with. There he stood, sopping wet, orange jumpsuit as good as rags, one hand hanging limply, the other balled into a fist. His teeth were chewing feverishly into his bottom lip, forcing blood into his own mouth and dribbling it down his wet chin.

_Oh my God._

"Naruto-" Sasuke started, only to be cut off by a roar from the other boy.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

"Cut the crap Naruto, I know it's you! I knew you were a loser, but I never once thought you were a liar. Just stupid."

He had meant it as a joke. Humor to take away the fight's edge. It fell flat and awkward. Sasuke had never been good at jokes, hadn't tried them in years. He regretted it the moment the words were off his lips. _I'm terrible at interaction, _he suddenly realized_. What was I becoming!?_ The blonde haired boy jerked his head back toward his embarrassed opponent.

"Don't talk to me like you know me!"

"We both cared for her! I get it alright!" Sasuke was desperate now, wanted to make it up to perhaps his last friend. _I need to connect._ "I know what you're going through! I've gone through it before! It's like a nightmare you can't wake up from and have to live in."

"Gone through it before! You don't know shit! I had to work for it! You had a family! I had to earn it! For some reason I didn't get one and I had to earn it! You took it from me! I got it and you took it from me?! You should have known better! Now they're both gone because of you!"

Sasuke saw then, in an instant, that he hadn't truly understood what had happened to Naruto at all.

_They call me a genius and this whole time I've been this stupid?_

Then the runt was on him again, screaming and howling curses. "You Don't Know! You Don't Know! They killed him for you, you bastard!" Sasuke couldn't keep up with the punches this time, couldn't develop a counter strategy. He had been rattled more by the words then the previous blows and the chidori/rasengan collision. One punch linked up with his skull and a vision danced before his eyes-

A rooftop stained red and pink, and a broken little girl who's legs were on backwards-

And then Sasuke was fighting back, screaming now himself. The sound was nothing intelligible, just the sound of rage and grief as he flung his own counter punches and chops toward the throat and nose of his partner in crime. _Something we did together. Just like tree climbing._

The runt leapt backward, snarling and splashing down with something that lacked even the moderate coordination Sasuke knew the klutz to be capable of. _Handsign! Shadowcl-_ Sasuke sprang forward as the telltale puffs of chakra manipulation formed several hundred replicas of the child-turning-monster. The Uchiha spun handsigns just as the newly formed reinforcements oriented on him. _Always even the odds-_ The air in front of his lips ignited as the Uchiha spat flame in a thin stream and spun on in a circle. _I don't need to aim, they're coming at me._

The whip of the flame cut down dozens, but there were plenty piling in, too many to get in one go. With a cough Sasuke shot a large blossom of fire into the hoard almost on top of him. Simultaneously, he cut the chakra flow to his feet. The vaporized doppleganger smoke covered his exit perfectly.

Dozens of the same mind raced to figure out where the hated target of aggression had slipped off to as the same person collided into himself over thirty-six times. Almost all simultaneously realized the trick in the next instant. But by then it was already too late.

The original Uzumaki took the blow straight on the chin, road the impact up like an elevator, feet rising eleven meters off the water and climbing. Sasuke normally felt superior in moments like this. A simple strategy executed expertly as if he had it planned the entire time instead of figuring it out moments before. Not now, and never again.

Sasuke's eyes had been able to track the real Naruto from the moment he had initiated the clone jutsu. A chakra enhanced dolphin jump through the water had allowed him to close the gap in the precious second it had taken the small army to realize he was beneath the water's surface. The uppercut was something primitive, but the environment had dictated it over his standard kick. Now all he had to do was line up the Lion's Combo, something he could do almost half asleep. So why did his victory feel so hollow? And that's when Sasuke realized, the victory was in fact hollow. As the two children's assent turned horizontal, Sasuke realized something quite terrifying.

_He's facing me_

The initial hit the Uchiha had landed would have incapacitated an adult, never mind a fellow student. Yet there was no denying that Naruto had not succumbed to the blow. Instead he had twisted his core, and instead of having the back of an incapacitated Uzumaki, he was instead face-to-face with an energized Naruto. The shock muted Sasuke's reflexes, and even his genetic lineage couldn't help him compensate. In slow motion, Sasuke watched his friend strike him in the stomach. A second later, it actually connected. As Sasuke now plummeted back toward the river's surface, he realized something terrible.

_I'm not as strong as him at all._


	17. Chapter 17

I wasn't as strong as he was. Not at all."

A part of Sasuke Uchiha was on edge. To be sure, he had seen Gaara of the Desert broken and defeated before. It hadn't been that long ago either, a few months, nothing more. Yet Sasuke also knew just what it had taken to get him to that point. _What happened?_

"He told me he had a monster in him." The voice was startling, not because of any hate, but from its jarring peacefulness.

_Right where we started_

The fist arching in was flaming with a fire of hate, its target was the heart of his brother. Sasuke felt the curse seal give. It was strange, but he couldn't honestly hear the triumphant screech of revenge Naruto was spewing over the feeling of power. It was overwhelming. It was ready, cheap, and easy to get hold of. It might keep him alive.

"YOU"RE TOO LATE SASUKE!"

_NO!_

Sasuke's legs shot up, grasping out, slamming onto either side of the creature's wrist, latching on with a chakra reinforced grip. The blow meant to cave in his chest he rode instead, the very force of it ripping his collar apart, leaving only a piece of his shirt in Naruto's closed claws. He was free. And flying. It had been like this before as well. Forcing a genie back into its bottle while being airborne. The force of the blow had thrown him to the river bank, and as Sasuke skidded across it on his back he felt fire and blood. It was nothing compared to capping the curse seal, pushing it back off his neck and shoulders midflight, re-imagining the seal his sensei had inscribed around it as he slid over hard rock. Then both pains were gone. Sasuke sat up groggily, and had a split second to take in the five meter skid mark of bloody smear on the hard shale shore before the red blur slammed him back down onto his torn back.

Bloodstained fists hammered into the pulverized flesh and broke bone; the victim made a wet gasping sound as he choked on his own blood, running like a river now down the back of his throat. Sasuke was more than aware that he couldn't take much more of the beating, the terror clawed at him as much as the demon now astride him, burning red and angry.  
_I'm going to die._  
For a moment he saw her through the red of chakra and blood, pink hair and peaceful green eyes, a ribbon holding her bangs back.  
"so, sorry," he croaked from between his split lips. For a moment, the beast hesitated, arm raised high, intent on splitting his prey's skull with a final massive blow. The lips of his former friend were pulled back, revealing animal like canines, the eyes blood shot and crazed, but for a moment, understanding dawned in them. Then despair. Then the fury returned.

KILL HIM. NOW. IGNORE IT.

Sasuke knew that he had only a second's worth of hesitation before the beast overoad Naruto and finished them both. He locked his stare into his opponent's eyes_. Please God, let this work._ Then he felt their reality shift.  
_GET BACK!_ The Fox's warning sent Naruto bounding off his friend in an instant. _Something's changed, his eyes never could do that before!_

"A monster?"

"Not precisely. You didn't know what you were really chasing did you?"

"I'm bringing back a friend."

"Someone who understands you? He recognizes you?"

"Yes."

The give/take between the boys was halting and convoluted. Stumbling upon the clearing had been mindblowing. He had known of jutsus which had been created (S-rank they were called) capable of something like this, but on a scale this vast was hard to comprehend. He remembered the duel between Naruto's summon and Garra's transformation and repressed a shudder. This had been larger.

The experience was less painful than he imagined, the sheer alteration of the optic nerve slightly jarring, but otherwise lacking in sensation. It was entirely possible the pain from his ruined face was simply blotting out his ability to feel any more acute sensation, but Sasuke had little time to ponder that. The Sharingan's mutation nearly overwhelmed him.

The world was an entirely new place, and it seemed it was the first time Sasuke was truly seeing it.

_This is what my brother killed his best friend for?_ It simply didn't seem worth it.

The world was clear, sharp, in focus. Each color brighter and more brilliant then it ever had been.

_RUN!_

Naruto was moving away, but apparently far slower than the beast wanted him to. He didn't know why. _Another minute and I would have killed him-what am I scared of?_

_I'M NOT SCARED WHELP! BUT IT WASN'T YOU! ITS ME! _

And now Naruto felt something else. It was a distinct lack of control. _Wait-wha-_ The red chakra was ballooning out again, cocooning him in a shroud of color and rage.

Sasuke saw it all. And he saw something else. _Naruto, how can that be inside of you? _It was a vision. A beast with nine tails as tall as the cliffs, with hungry red eyes and bloody fur. It was no hallucination, this thing, a fox, was there. And it wanted him gone.

_A monster-fox._

Sasuke felt the temptation once more. The urge to release the seal burned into shoulder. The will to hold it back was thin and frail, as if it would be the simplest thing to give in and swat it aside. Yes, it was thin and frail, much like a girl's arms. Like thin frail arms he was held fast. His humanity was at stake, as was that of his teammate. His friend was going to be eaten by a monster, but Sasuke, he was going to eat himself. _I've got to make eye-contact._ He wasn't sure what would happen, but he could feel the reality with his eyesight now. _If it's what Garra said, I can control it._ The pinwheels that had become his eyes spun.

_RUN!_ _GIVE ME TIME!_

_I'm fast again. _This thought flew through Naruto's hate drenched mind as his feet whirled over the water, and suddenly he was at the top of the waterfall again. _It was only an instant-_ And then he was in the basement again. Chakra coated his legs like water and a grin was curling his lips. _SOON, _they thought in unison.

Sasuke glanced at the brother and sister laying in repose, nestled in soft warm beds of levitating sand. He felt something like envy, but far more friendly and wholesome. _Sympathy?_

"I protected them. The best I could. What happened to Naruto Uzumaki?" Garra's strangely honest eyes met coal black ones and Sasuke looked away.

"You're eyes, they're different."

Sasuke couldn't suppress a bitter, sarcastic, hiccup of a laugh. It rolled out of his mouth like a deathrattle. He swung his gaze back up, to pinion this boy- _this foreigner!-_ with his gaze, show him the old hate, show him that things hadn't changed at all. But it was too dark now; the last few particles of light had fled too far west to reveal anything more, and Sasuke doubted he had really mustered any hate into his stare. Just hurt. The hate had died on that rooftop with a blameless sacrifice. The anger was going as well.

"I suppose it doesn't matter," this from the Sand villager. "You've got to save him."

"Yes," Sasuke responded slowly. Then stupidly, "from what?"

"From that monster someone put inside him, from the nine-tailed fox."

And Sasuke's brain was reeling from the revelation then. _Nine-tails?! Naruto's strength! The village attack thirteen years ago! The clan's secret!_ Stone tablets, illuminated by fire and translated by tomoed eyes leapt into his mind. _Naruto, you_'re-

The secret flashed through his mind once more as Sasuke blurred over the water in pursuit of the chakra pire, the center of which his teammate burned. The Mangeko Sharingan showed him the location where water droplets would kick up a second later, and a more idle mind might have noted the shadowed colors of nature's hidden energy. Sasuke had no time for these new revelations. At the top of that waterfall something terrible was happening- a transformation which might prove irreversible if he did nothing to stop it.

_Naruto, don't change._

"It's eating his personality, and he's letting it do it. Whatever happened to him-to you-" the voice in the dark guessed, "he's lost his will to fight the Voice. If he gives up to it, if he goes to sleep, he won't come back."

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke could barely make sense of any of this, he sat down on the splinter strewn ground, feeling the cuts and pricks but paying them no mind. _Naruto's the host of the Nine-Tails._ One could have said the world was flat with a straight face. But it made a sort of funny sense. His ostracism by the community. His mad strength, stamina, and healing capabilities. Naruto had been blessed and cursed in one single step by the Fourth Hokage. _But what's the point then?_

"It's already broken free hasn't it?" Sasuke hated the sound of failure on his lips. He confronted it immediately before it had time to mutate into something more. "No, you said 'if.' What's happened?"

"I don't know," Gaara responded, confusion on his lips as well. "Something brought him back, something stopped it." Now Gaara crouched next to the boy from the Leaf, voice dropping to a whisper. "Once, my father stopped me, when I lost control. I think…" the pause seemed to drag on and on, "this was something similar."

Sasuke was too bewildered by this to make any kind of response. Finally he spoke. "I'll rest here for the night, just a few hours."

"That would be advisable, I don't think he'll be moving too far tonight, but you had better catch him sometime tomorrow. I will be heading to the Leaf village tomorrow with my family," The noise indicated that the boy was lying down between his unconscious siblings. The rustle of fabric signaled he was wrapping himself tighter amongst his robes.

"I will let any follow-on after you know what has occurred."

"Thank you," the sound of the words shocked the Uchiha and for a moment he couldn't believe he had spoken them. _How long since I've said those words to anyone?_ He hadn't even thanked Kakashi after having been taught to use the chidori. _If I find Naruto, am I going to find myself along with him?_

_Only if you bring him back._

"How will you bring him back?"

Sasuke jumped, he had thought Gaara was asleep.

"I don't know," he responded slowly. But that was only half true. Gaara was right of course. His eyes had changed. In more ways than one.

Sasuke stood on the head of the statue again. _This is it. _The chakra was ballooning out of the Uzumaki child in ridiculous proportions, shooting up and out like a scarlet hot air balloon, making the air sting Sasuke's cheeks like needles and whipping at the tatters of his clothing. _Fanning a flame._

The balloon of chakra was changing, shifting into the form of the beast; what Sasuke had seen with his second sight was becoming a reality. _The price paid to control the Nine-tails…_

His eyes were a fractal pattern of the atom, and he knew that they were capable of incredible, world changing potential. He simply had no idea how to make them work.

_KILL HIM AND END THIS_

Naruto was seeing and not seeing. He was in the Basement with the Fox, and yet he was staring at a distant figure standing on the head of a massive statue. The figure wore tattered blue and white. And he hated him. The reason now quite escaped him. Yet this person on the statue Naruto knew to be the key to the Fox's cage. Killing him would give him the strength to rip the seal so firmly fixed on the door free. _One good pull…_ As Naruto pulled, the Fox sprang…


	18. Chapter 18

He was a child playing with shurikens. Claws the size of boulders, and made of blazing red chakra were crashing in towards him, but Sasuke didn't see them. Tails of flame seemed to block out the blue sky, but again, Sasuke didn't pay them the slightest attention. _Where are his eyes?_ And then, inside the beast's belly, he saw the boy. Suspended in a sea of hate, gaze locked in on him, Sasuke stared into the eyes of the demon. The shell that surrounded Naruto came on like a red avalanche, the jaws of the hideous beast meaning to swallow him. _WORK DAMNIT! _

It was going to be too late. He had no way to dodge the yawning maw of chakra teeth; he wouldn't be able to get over or around it. Its mouth was wide open, like a trap waiting to slam shut. _Even if I can't read its movements, it can't anticipate mine, its watching me-_ the realization was more instinct then reason. Sasuke knew escape was impossible. He didn't try to. Standing stalk still, he waited until there was no time left to avoid the attack. He didn't have to wait long. As the jaws began to snap shut, the boy with the wheel eyes sprang forward into the gaping maw.

Both boys were going over the falls. Inside the chakra shroud Sasuke had felt his skin flash burn and his bones jar as he smashed into the center of the maelstrom. But he was alive. Presuming he could somehow actually gain control of the Fox as the tablets claimed he could, he might even live long enough to see if he survived the landing. The eyes of the storm blazed into the Uchiha's. Sasuke stared, and stared, until he'd thought he'd go mad from the red. _How do I- HOW DO I BREAK THIS!_

Then he was in.

...

It was dark. That's what he first noticed. Then he was wet. Then he realized, that even though it was dark, there was a kind of light. Its glow was unwholesome, not unlike an interrogator's lamp in one of Ibiki's windowless cells. And there was Naruto, and the Fox behind barred doors. _How did I not see themmissthem at first?_

Naruto spun, startled, like a child caught with his hand in a cookie jar instead of placed on the seal of a caged abomination. Sasuke met eyes gone wide and burning, tears streaming from pupilless pits of the unending emptiness the color of hate. "Naurto wait!" Sasuke rushed forward, running through a flood of water that pulled at his feet and legs. _Nightmare, itslikerunningin a-_ Naruto never took his sightless eyes off his friend as his hand pulled down on the loose paper seal-breaking it free of the weakened and rent lock.

ROARRRRRRRRRRRRR

There was blood in the water now (_or is it ink?)_, leaking from underneath Naruto's jacket. With the triumphant howl the cage doors burst outward. Then the basement, the water, everything was gone. A room of white enveloped them, a new cage and a boundless plain simultaneously. Sasuke was to terrified to be shocked. The Fox was big, bigger then anything he would have imagined, bigger than Naruto's Toad summon. Naruto was still looking at him with those eyes. _No, wait…_ _Black?_ A shadow had rolled over in the red's place, blotting out the heated rage with a kind of cold hate. _This can't be real…_

_HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE LITTLE UCHIHA?_

The Fox was slightly confused. _he's an uchiha, he wields the abominable sharingan, in fact…_

Kurama recognized the mutation and shuddered. _not now. i'm so close to escape, not now. i'll not be stopped by some uchiha chick, i won't be caged now that i'm so close to freedom._

_YOUR TOO LATE LITTLE UCHIHA. YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN SOMETHING TO RIVAL MADARRA, IF YOU HAD JUST HAD TIME TO GROWN UP! _

The Fox towered over Naruto, a massive rabid guard dog holding its master prisoner. Naruto was seething, sucking in air that didn't exist and projecting a cold that defied logic. The Beast's stance was possessive and hate filled, Sasuke anticipated he had but moments before both him and his last friend became but cursed memories in the real world. So he spoke up.

"Give me Naruto." Sasuke had no idea where the courage to speak to the demon had come from, but it spilled out suddenly, appearing as if from nowhere.

_HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA_

The Fox's mad laugh swamped and shook the white infinity and one of its nine tails swept toward Sasuke Uchiha to shatter his psyche into oblivion.

The chains sprung up and out of the white. They were a kind of pure light but Sasuke knew instinctively there was more iron in them then in all the world. _Wha-_ Now Sasuke was stunned, the Dark Naruto and the Fox even more so.

_no, _the Fox contemplated, _you're dead!_ And yet, there was no denying this bond, an unbreakable chain holding the tail of the Fox a hair's breadth away from Sasuke Uchiha, sparing him the impact.

"_KUSHINAAAAAAAAAA!"_

...

The boys were going over the falls, the force of the spring ripping the head from the statues of the 1st Hokage and his rival, horizontal motion had yet to be arrested by the vertical, and the boys in a cloud of chakra were screaming across the river.

...

The Fox's howl of dismay forced both boys to cover their ears, and more chains, springing as if from nowhere, slipped around its jaws, paws, tails and back. With a jerk from nothingness the chains went taught, and the Fox came down to the nothing floor with a crash.

"Naruto!" Sasuke screamed, terrified his only friend being crushed under the Fox. But his friend was beside him, snatched it seemed just before the beast was brought down. A woman with red hair had materialized as well. "Wha-"

The fall is turning vertical now, the beast plunging toward the water, one boy grasped the other by two fingers, eye contact fixed by the tenuous hold.

"Its ok, I love you."

Sasuke couldn't be sure how to comprehend what was going on. The woman had grabbed Naruto, drawn him into a hug both firm and gentle. The clouded eyes of Uzumaki had gone wide, then cleared, the dark and dull quality draining away, black giving way to blue.

"Ma-Mom?"

"There isn't much time,"

The woman turned, startling lavender eyes landing on Sasuke. Amazing warmth seemed to flow from them, nearly overwhelming the Uchiha with a sensation he hadn't felt in five long years. Tears began to well up . _She's beautiful._ It was like being struck but without the impact, just the dizzy mind-numbing feeling that makes one in danger of stumbling into something.

"Who-?" began Sasuke.

"Did you come here to help my son? You're," recognition flashed in the lady's eyes, "Sasuke right?! Your mother must be so proud-our boys did become friends."

"You knew my mother?!"

_KUSHINAAAAAA!_

The woman never let go of her boy, if anything her hug became even more fierce. And she never took her violet eyes off Sasuke.

"Sasuke, there's not much time, the seal's been broken, so I need you to do something with those eyes of yours."

_She knows what the masked man can do with those eyes, she's seen his gaze affect the Nine-Tails, control it. She knows these two children are falling as well-aware through a link that has allowed her to know her child's whole life. She doesn't have long with her son, not near enough time to tell him everything that's important, that has happened. There simply isn't time. But there is this miracle, this chance child here with her and her Naruto. She can talk her son through the steps, and normally what would be impossible for her son at this age, in his state, will be the easiest thing in the world. But they only had a few seconds-_

...

For a brief moment the Beast's chakra flared above the Falls. Then it went out. Two young boys hung in the air. Then they fell.

Sasuke felt the Mangekyo fade, felt his real sight return, felt the cool air on his skin, and now he saw not the Fox's eyes, but his friend's. Then they were falling away from each other, plunging down into real water, sinking like stones.

_Did you really think you could hold onto him with just two fingers?_

...

He's swimming to the surface, fighting to get up and out before he drowns. The boy's head breaks the surface and he can see that the entire landscapes gone grey. Water is falling on his face and he subconsciously recognizes its raining. He's tired, hurt, and running on empty. But he's also desperate. He cast's his head left, then right, then paddles around to see downstream. He doesn't see his friend, he hasn't broken the surface. He screams his name

"Naruto!"

Then he's diving, going below the surface of the river, swimming down, down, down, after his friend. _I came this far, I'm not going to lose now. Not when I'm so close again._

...

Consciousness comes in spurts, fits and starts, a kaleidoscope of colors. He feels terrible, worse then perhaps he ever has in his life-and that's saying something.

The young boy looked to his right, at first not even knowing what he was checking for. When his eyes see it, he knows everything is going to be fine after all. _A lily. She brought me another lily._ Lee smiled and faded off, back into the black.

...

Sasuke is swimming down-deeper and deeper into the black. He can see his friend's chakra, it's like a burning candle, but it's starting to fade. Sasuke though is getting closer. Arm over arm, with steady kick, the boy's abused and beaten body is closing the gap.

His lungs are burning when he gets his hands around the other boys collar, then he's kicking up- back the way they came in, up and out.

_Damn it Naruto! Help me!_

The struggle to the shore is almost as gut wrenching as the swim beneath the river. Sasuke feels his stomach wretch but he has nothing to throw up-he hasn't eaten in days now. Dragging the dead weight of his friend onto the shale that has been shattered and split from their struggles, Sasuke feels his legs give out finally and he pitches forward, falling flat on his broken face, the pain blanking his mind and forcing a scream of anguish from his throat. _God, why is this so hard? Why is it this impossible-_

No one answers his prayer and instead he manages- "Naruto, hey Naruto." There is no answer there as well. Sasuke knows there wasn't going to be. He's known since he saw his friend sink beneath the water. Naruto isn't breathing.

...

Kiba simply didn't know what to think anymore. The news about Team Seven's fratricide had induced a shock in him that bordered on depression. A part of him wanted to be angry. The official story as it was coming out was a spar had gone wrong between Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura had paid the price. _A spar?! They found her in pieces!_ Kiba couldn't even begin to imagine a scenario between him and Shino that might lead to harming Hinata. The very thought had disgusted him, made him want to howl at such a concept. And his immediate reaction had switched to hate for his fellow classmates. Teeth-into-throat type emotions. And then a part of him sympathized.

_Arrogance. That must have been it._ Taking his team within reach of a child psychopath with a love for blood, he had nearly killed Hinata hadn't he? And Shino, Akamuru, and himself to boot. The fact that no one would have even known his guilt in no way absolved him of his miscalculation, _no, my choice… Straight arrogance, you don't think something could possibly hurt you and you forget the others..._ He hadn't liked that train of thought. The Shinobi world was not a forgiving one, and a stupid kid making a bad call could leave more than just yourself splatter in the woods to be scraped up by nonchalant instructors.

Above him, Akamaru gave a whimper letting him know his emotional distress was becoming physically palpable. "Sorry boy," he muttered quietly to the nin-dog, hoping the others wouldn't hear.

"What's that?" shot the medic with apparently fantastic ears. Kiba's spring to the next tree branch prevented him from making eye contact with the adult he was guiding even closer to the border of a hostile nation. _Naruto's course has zigzagged but started going straight after the blast site…_

"Nothing," he responded quickly to jonin. "Just feeling sorry for Captain Kakashi back there."

"Kid, if only you knew the half of it."

Kiba's frown was hidden by his hood. He didn't like being called 'kid,' like he was some kind of child. Then his brain actually translated the rest of the concept. _What could have possibly happened to Kakashi-sensei that could make this worse?_

That thought was quickly cast away, he really didn't want to know. What he knew was that his would-be rival had killed a teammate with the help of the other teammate. _Now that I can believe. Some people you know are just destined to screw up._ Kiba ground his teeth together, forgetting his sympathy once more and remembering the nonchalant coldness that had made the brooding Sasuke so popular amongst the female classmates. Jealousy had turned to vindictiveness within Kiba, and then…

Kiba paused on one branch, trying desperately to spit the negativity out of himself via a stream of saliva. The pause almost wasn't there, and the Leaf-medics failed to detect the change in their guide's gate, for which Kiba was incredibly grateful.

_I can't believe I'm this bitter, this small._

To distract himself he took a breath through his chakra drenched nostrils. Inuzuku were experts par excellence when it came to tracking, having actually first taught their canine companions the art of chakra manipulation, then mimicking how the animals had employed the same techniques. Learning from each other, the Inuzuka clan was without peer throughout the ninja world when it came to following its nose. _The Hatake were once considered close rivals…_

The scent of fear and sweat and blood were growing heavier with each breath. And at the rate the debris trail was picking up, Kiba didn't think his nose would be necessary to track Naruto's path toward the Sound Nation. Kiba's nostrils flared again as he scented something new. _Rain…_

...

His heart had stopped. Sasuke had pounded on his chest until Naruto's ribs had cracked. Had breathed into him until he thought he'd pass out from the exertion. _How long has it been-has it been more than two minutes? Three?_ Sasuke was sure he was almost out of time, perhaps seconds remained before it all would be in vain. _His heart stopped from the shock of it all. The shock-_ And Sasuke remembered something then. Something his teacher had told him.

_This jutsu, its purpose is to protect those who are important to you._

Monkey, Dragon, Rat, Bird, Ox, Snake, Dog, Tiger, Monkey

_And I was planning to use it as a tool for revenge. How blind was I?_

The struggle to well up the chakra to manifest the chidori was mind crushing. He had only used one recently in the combat, but the exertion and life threatening beatings, on top of the employment of the Mangekyo Sharingan had taken a toll on the young man's chakra reserves. But he couldn't back down now. He'd come this far. _Come on, two is my limit, I only used one-_

Activating the curse mark never crossed his mind.

_Focus, just like in school._

Sasuke could see it in his mind's eye, a leaf, perfectly balanced on his forehead. If he concentrated, it seemed he could center every ounce of his being into that single point. _Into a single point_.

He felt it well up from somewhere then, somewhere deep within him. It was only a spark. But he could hear it, faintly:

_chirpchirpchirpchirp_

_A conductor, I need something to-_ one hand manifested it, the weak electrical spark in danger of being put out by the rain that was starting. The other hand flew backward into his kunai pouch. _A shuriken, kunai, any bit of metal will-_ his hand wrapped around something which was solid and cold. Without a moment to even identify it Sasuke brought it out and down, slapping it on his friend's chest. The spark sputtered. "NARUTO!"

Sasuke brought the chidori down on his headband protector.


End file.
